Religious Minister Defends Abortion Law

Jakarta (Antara) - The Government's Regulation Number 61/2014 on abortion legalized last July is in line with the Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI's) recommendation, stated Minister for Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin. "In the regulation, abortion is allowed under certain conditions. It is in line with the recommendations from the MUI," Lukman remarked. According to the minister, the government allows abortion if the pregnancy physically and mentally threatens the mother. Doctors and medical experts are assigned the task to decide whether an abortion is deemed necessary or not. The abortion must be conducted before the fetus is 4 months old. The Government's Regulation Number 61/2014 was announced on July 21. As per one of the articles in the regulation, abortion is allowed if the pregnancy threatens the mother's life or if the mother was raped, and the pregnancy can cause a psychological trauma to the victim. The legalization of Regulation Number 61 sparked a controversy among several people. Chairman of the NGO National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas PA) Arist Merdeka Sirait asserted that abortion was akin to taking a life. "Whatever the reason is, I disagree with abortion," Arist stressed. He argued that the abortion regulation contradicts Regulation Number 23 legalized in 2002, which says that the government should protect Indonesian children, right from the embryo stage until he or she is 18 years old. (*) Reporting by Muhammad Arief Iskandar Translating and Editing by Amie Fenia Arimbi