Nat’l body finds 40% of abortions illegal
Having an abortion ‘not a sin, source of shame’
THE National Maternal and Child Health Centre (NMCHC) said seven per cent of Cambodian women of reproductive age have had an abortion i n the past five years, and 40 per cent of the procedures were performed by unlicensed practitioners.
The figures were revealed at a three-day workshop organised by the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC) and funded by the Safe Abortion Action Fund (SAAF) to destigmatise abortions.
The proposed goal was to rescue legitimate abortion service providers and the women who seek their assistance from the disrepute that weighs them down.
Cambodia Midwives Association president Chhay Sveng Chea Ath said at the workshop that over 21 million women in the world had unsafe abortions in 2011.
About 50,000 of those women died while five million suffered short-term or permanent disabilities due to improper abortions, she said.
NMCHC deputy president Pich Sothy told The Post on Wednesday that abortions are not against the law.
However, he said all women
must seek safe abortion services as permitted by the Ministry of Health to ensure their health and safety.
“Abortion is not birt h control. Women have the right to have abortions when they get pregnant by accident, have bad health conditions, or are raped.
“We do not ban abortions but we do ban abortion services that have no legal authority to operate,” Sothy said.
He said having an abortion is not a sin, but many Buddhist Cambodians disagree, as the religion teaches that killing any living thing is sinful.
Abortion officially became legal in the Kingdom when the National Assembly adopted the Law on Abortion on October 6, 1997.
Sothy said legal and safe abortions can be carried out for women who are in their 12th week of pregnancy or before. Women pursuing an abortion after 12 weeks must provide sound reasons to the abortionist.
Both State and private hospitals can perform abortions after they have received specific training and have been registered with the ministry, he said.
Ministry of Information adviser Kuch Nearadey said there is no shame in having abortions.
She said women should seek professional assistance and avoid illegal abortions which pose serious health risks and can result in permanent damage.
The shame drives women in Cambodia to seek unsafe abortion services, she said. Abortion pills can also seriously harm women.
“The press and media play an important role in spreading abortion awareness to women and encouraging them to find proper abortion services,” Nearadey said.
She said some women confuse birth control and abortion and believe that abortions are entirely safe given that they have been legalised and are mentioned in the media.
But she cautioned that although safe abortions are legal and shouldn’t carry a stigma, multiple abortions and pregnancies often have adverse effects on health.
THE Ministry of Civil Service and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to cooperate on job sectors and provide more effective and efficient services to people, a joint press release said.
The MoU signing took place at the ministry and was presided over by Minister Prum Sokha and UNDP Cambodia’s resident representative Nick Beresford. Some 30 other officials from the two institutions attended the event.
“The purpose of the MoU is to open a new chapter in cooperation between the two institutions on reforming public administration.
“We especially need to improve public services through enhancing the ability of officials on innovation, and creating institutions for officials to test innovative ideas to improve public services,” the press release said.
Sokha said: “The cooperation between the two institutions is to support each other to reach mutual goals to strengthen good governance and law, and sustainable and environmental development while Cambodia and the world are being affected by Covid-19.”
Beresford agreed: “Innovation in the public sector has to go beyond learning new methods or tools as they are not sufficient on their own.
“We need to understand how to create an appropriate environment for them to work and pay attention to the core set of attitudes and skills that fuel innovation.”
Both sides agreed to cooperate in four areas – creating funds for innovation, creating study programmes about innovation in public service for the Royal School of Administration, enhancing public services through the application of digital technology in administrative services, and changing some public service laws.
The UNDP used to cooperate with the government to strengthen laws and good governance in the first reformation of public administration from 1990-2006.