Very often you find that people who are against abortion are misinformed or have misconceptions. These could be born from misleading facts, or myths, or old beliefs about the origin of life, and the sanctity of motherhood. For example, many people believe that women who have abortions are selfish, others think that abortion is a sin. Some think that having an abortion can spoil your chances of becoming a mother again. Others think that easy access to abortion will lead to promiscuity. Most of these notions judge women’s choices, question their ability to make choices about their bodies, and seek to empower the patriarchal society at the expense of women.

Not all people with misconceptions however have the power to influence the choices that others make. Some do: these are usually legal professionals: lawyer and judges; policy makers or politicians. Their beliefs transcend the personal, and become political because of the power vested in these people through the offices they hold. If they formulate laws without understanding the basics of safe abortion, the law is very likely to be restrictive and limiting.

In 2009 ASAP performed a series of studies that assessed the knowledge, attitude and understanding of legal professionals in seven Asian countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, The Philippines and Sri Lanka. We are happy to announce that we have now made this studies available online. You can access these on our website on this page: http://asap-asia.org/publications-2009.html

You can also access each study through the links below:

1. India

2. Indonesia

3. Malaysia

4. Nepal

5. Pakistan

6. Philippines

7. Sri Lanka

Please let us know if you have done similar studies and would like to share the paper with us.