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Indonesia criticized for signing anti-abortion convention
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coalition of Indonesian women rights groups have lambasted the government for signing an anti-abortion convention rolled out by the United States, saying the government cosponsored it without proper public consultation.
The coalition deemed the signing of the convention unconstitutional and harmful to the sexual and reproductive health of Indonesian women because it might lead to more unsafe abortion practices and subsequently, more maternal deaths.
Indonesia is among 32 countries that have signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family during a virtual ceremony cohosted by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on Oct. 22.
Indonesia is a cosponsor of the declaration alongside Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Uganda and the US. Indonesia's decision to support the convention comes amid the country's long-standing debate between conservative groups that campaign for "family resilience" and women's rights groups that campaign for gender equality. It was also signed days before Pompeo visited Indonesia.
A coalition of 31 organizations and 25 individuals has issued a statement urging that the Foreign Ministry revoke Indonesia's signing, saying the declaration had only been counterproductive to Indonesia's decades of efforts in improving women's access to health care, by clearly excluding women's sexual and reproductive health services and rights.
"The declaration is not only unconstitutional based on prevailing laws in Indonesia, but is also not in line with the Indonesian government's aim to achieve the SDGs [sustainable development goals]. The declaration is especially dangerous for Indonesian women and families' sexual and reproductive health," the coalition said in a statement published on samsaranews.com. Samsara is one of the signatories of the statement.
The Geneva Consensus Declaration emphasizes that "in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning" and that abortion is not included as part of the improvement and security of access to health and development gains for women.
It also reaffirms that "there is no international right to abortion, nor any international obligation on the part of states to finance or facilitate abortion [...]".
The coalition argued that this notion was in contrast to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that Indonesia had ratified in 1984, which according to the coalition had suggested legalization of abortion at least in cases of rape, incest, threat to the mother's life or health-threatening conditions or severe birth defects.
Indonesia's 2009 Health Law bans abortions, but it provides safe abortion services for pregnancies that pose medical risks that threaten the mother's or the baby's life, or can cause severe genetic illnesses or congenital defects that will make it harder for the baby to survive.
It also allows abortion in the case of pregnancies caused by rape, but it must be done within 40 days of the pregnancy at the latest, counted from the first day of the victims' last period, according to a 2014 government regulation on reproductive health.
Experts and activists, including some of those participating in the coalition, have pushed for a change in the maximum time period, citing women's difficulties to detect their pregnancies among other reasons, especially as rape victims may fear reporting their case to authorities.
A World Health Organization report in 2008 found that in Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia but not Singapore and Vietnam, the unsafe abortion rate was 26 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years old, and it was the cause of 13 percent of maternal deaths. Those resorting to illegal, unsafe abortions in the country were not only risking their health but were also at risk of facing punitive measures.
"There's an urgent need to shift and reorganize practical approaches used by the country in managing safe abortions, not only to reduce maternal deaths but also to ensure that victims of sexual violence are protected and receive the assistance they need," the coalition said. Beyond abortion, the coalition said the declaration's emphasis on families was a systemic and structural effort to ignore gender equality by limiting women's space and roles in the name of families' well-being.
The coalition also expressed its regrets that the government did not involve and consult with civil society organizations before deciding to sign the declaration.
The Health Ministry did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Post's request for comments but Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto in his address during the ceremony expressed the government's full support for the declaration.
“More significant attention needs [to be] given to women because they are susceptible to morbidity and mortality related to pregnancy and delivery," he said as quoted on the ministry's website.
The Foreign Ministry's multilateral cooperation director general, Febrian A. Ruddyard, said Indonesia's involvement in cosponsoring the declaration was based on the consideration that the principles in the document were “general in nature and in line with national policies and laws and regulations in Indonesia”.
In this case, he said, the document was in line with the 2009 Health Law, its derivative 2014 government regulation on reproductive health as well as a 2009 law on population growth and family development.
“The declaration is not legally binding, so the implementation of it is of course adjusted to the priorities, provisions and domestic policies that have been in effect so far,” he said, adding that the document referred to existing international agreements at the United Nations and other international forums.
