Abortion – a procedure of which Sri Lanka sees about 700 cases a day, all done in secrecy, in any means a woman can obtain. When faced with the stigma of an unwanted baby, most women are willing to put their lives at risk to avoid the lifelong dedication that is birthing a child. Recently, in shocking but welcome news, Minister of Justice and President’s Counsel (PC) M.U.M. Ali Sabry told Parliament that he believes reforms should be made concerning the laws governing abortion in the country, in response to a question raised by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government Parliamentarian Shantha Bandara about women dying by suicide due to unwanted pregnancies.
He had stated: “It is vital that we begin this discussion. I personally believe that reforms need to be brought in.” He added that he would welcome such a discussion in Parliament, initiated by the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus. He also went on record saying: “The immediate stance may be against abortion other than when it is to protect a woman’s life. But if she has been abused, she may lead her entire life hating the child that is born as a result of such abuse. Other countries have given certain opportunities, under certain conditions, to legalise abortion.”
Brunch spoke to relevant professionals in the field to understand more about this move and how it will benefit women.
‘It is time we separate religion from governance’
Dr. Hemantha Senanayake
In conversation with Gynaecologist Dr. Hemantha Senanayake, he stated that abortion is never a straightforward issue, noting: “If you take the US for example, where abortion is legal, some people running abortion clinics have been shot dead.” However, he explained that Sri Lanka has had a long history with abortion and added that anywhere in the world, women will access abortion when they want to despite the laws around it. The only difference between legalising it is whether the abortion will be done safely or whether it’s a backroad abortion. “We know that rich women will access safe abortion, whereas poor women will suffer.”
Taking us back 20 years or so, he informed us that the only way to abort was through surgical intervention, whereas currently, abortion is possible by only using pharmaceutical drugs. “The drugs that are used to procure abortion is used for other illnesses as well, for example to stem bleeding after giving birth. Hospitals are instructed by the drug regulation authority to treat it like a dangerous drug,” he informed us, adding that nevertheless, it is available in the market.
Due to this, he explained that there is a huge shift in the way women achieve an abortion – they will use the drug over surgical procedures. In correlation to this, he also stated that many years ago – when the pills were not available – in their maternal death reviews, abortion was listed as one of the top three causes of death, but now the number of deaths due to abortion has reduced drastically. “I believe this is because women are accessing the tablets, procuring it by any means, and obtaining an abortion,” he shared, adding that in 2018, there was only one death by abortion, whereas, usually, the number would be close to 10 – and it must be noted that these are only the recorded cases. In a recent paper written by Prof. Lalani Rajapaksha, it was stated that Sri Lanka sees over 700 abortions a day, despite it being illegal – an alarming number which in turn raises concern for the safety of our women as well.
Looking at the policy side of the issue, Dr. Senanayake pointed out that abortion is legal in many of our neighbouring countries. “It’s legal in India and even Bangladesh, which is now a very progressive country. When you talk to our colleagues there, they will tell you it was legalised due to pressure from the medical profession itself along with women’s rights advocates,” he stated. He also told us that some from the medical sector, including himself, tried to obtain limited abortion rights for women, adding that to his knowledge, the Abortion Bill has been presented to Parliament atleast three times, and was shot down each time.
Sharing his personal belief, he affirmed that it should be legalised due to the simple fact that women should have the right to choose. “It is time we separate religion from governance. There are several countries with strong religious ideals who have legalised abortion taking into consideration that women should have the right to decide what they want to do with their body,” he concluded.
‘If the mother does not want the baby, she will also experience negative feelings towards the child’
Counselling psychologist Dr. Kalharie Pitigala
Taking into consideration that abortion is still not legal in the country, we spoke to Counselling Psychologist Dr. Kalharie Pitigala to understand the impact on mother and child if the child is forced to be born – whether it’s caused by rape or the mother simply not wanting a child. She stated that having to raise a child that a woman never planned would be a very difficult situation for the mother. “She would have to face socio-economic factors where if she is unemployed, she would not know how to fund the child. Especially without a father figure, once the child grows up, the child will face difficulties in social situations.”
A pregnant woman has to make many hospital visits, all while experiencing a hormonal and biological change in her body, Dr. Pitigala stated, adding that during this time, the woman will require a lot of care, love, and acceptance. “If there is no father figure, or accepting parents, she will not receive any during the most crucial time of the pregnancy,” she described, adding that if these needs are not met, the mother will face depression, anxiety, and will most likely experience postpartum depression. When this happens, the unborn child will also undoubtedly be affected; depression would mean that she does not feel the need to eat, stay hydrated, or maintain hygiene, which will directly affect the child’s health as well, Dr. Pitigala explained.
Supposing the mother delivers a healthy baby, Dr. Pitigala added: “If the mother does not want the baby, she will also experience negative feelings towards the child, who will grow up lacking parental love and care, directly affecting the child’s mental health.”
‘This is certainly a step in the right direction’
FPA Sri Lanka Head of Advocacy Sonali Gunasekera
Speaking on whether legalising abortion is a move towards progression for our country, Family Planning Association (FPA) Sri Lanka Head of Advocacy Sonali Gunasekera shared that it is indeed a very good move; one that women have been waiting for years and will be beneficial to women. The only problem, she pointed out, was that the Government seems to only be looking at rape cases, and iterated that we need to push this a bit further as we can’t just stop at rape. “Ideally, abortion should be a woman’s right to choice, but I don’t know whether this country is ready for that yet as we come from a very conservative and culturally reglious viewpoint,” she shared, adding that we need to look into extending it from rape to covering foetal deformities, incest, and contraception failure.
Commenting on the legal aspect, Gunasekera informed us that to her knowledge, there has been a law that was drafted and shelved that includes rape, foetal deformities, and incest but they would prefer if contraceptive failure was also included in this.
On this note, she added that they would prefer this law gets passed with haste, otherwise, as with most controversial topics, it would be sad if it gets put on the back burner.
“There was a draft law penned by the Ministry of Health which was turned down at the last moment when former President Maithripala Sirisena took it to the religious leaders,” Gunasekera commented, adding that there is no need to draft new laws, when a perfectly good one already exists – it just needs to be approved.
“This is certainly a step in the right direction, and we were thrilled to hear it. If we could push for this to happen it would be an excellent move,” she concluded.
