Though abortion is not permitted in Bangladesh, women can establish non-pregnancy using menstrual regulation. This has contributed to the  70% in maternal deaths between 1990 – 2011. This month, we would like to share information about the country’s menstrual regulation program. You can also access this information on our website: http://asap-asia.org/country-profile-bangladesh.html

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Legal status of Abortion in Bangladesh: 

Under the penal code of 1860, induced abortion is permitted in Bangladesh only to save the life of the mother. In 1972 the law was waived for women raped during the war of liberation. Abortions were performed in a few district hospitals under guidance of expert teams from Bangladesh, India, UK and USA. In 1976 the Bangladesh National Population Policy attempted to legalize first trimester abortion on board medical and social grounds, but legislative action was not taken and restrictive legislation remains in effect.

Nevertheless, a memorandum from the population control and family planning Division (PCFPD) states categorically that “Menstruation Regulation”(MR) is one of the methods used in the national Family planning program. The memorandum quotes a report from the institute of law (1979) to the effect that MR does not come under the provision of penal code section 312 in regard to abortion because pregnancy can not be established.

Policy:

The Bangladesh government’s Family Planning Division circular states that MR is included in the official policy and that a necessary support for MR service and training will be provided by the division .Another government memorandum (1980) permits that MR can be performed by an MR trained register medical practitioner and by any FWV who has specific training in MR. It also specifies that an FWV should perform MR only up to eight weeks from the last menstrual period (LMP) under supervision of a physician. Any case with a longer duration must be referred to a trained Doctor. In many government supported clinics the procedure is performed by paramedics. The second five year plan released in 1980 envisaged that MR facilities would be provided through the family planning clinics, welfare centers, all health centers and hospitals.

Practice:

The common practice is to induce abortion by inserting objects in the uterus or by performing vigorous physical exercise which leads to serious complications. These complications not only ar  a burden to the women’s family but also drain scare medical resources. Many advocates making legally approved abortion services by trained personnel widely available in order to save many women’s lives.

Abortion related statistics:

Maternal mortality in Bangladesh is 3.9/1000 live birth .One fourth of these deaths are due to complication of induced abortion.

It has been estimated that every year 8, 00,000 abortions are being performed in the country and at least 8000 women are dieing from abortion related complications each year.

A survey of pregnancy-related deaths in 1978 estimated that 7,800 women died of complications of induced abortion, which accounted for about a quarter of all maternal deaths. A more recent study of maternal mortality in a rural area found an abortion ratio of 44,2 induced abortions per 1000  live births and a death to case rate of 2.4 % .

Unsafe Abortion:

In Bangladesh in remote rural areas, all abortions are induced by indigenous health parishioners and the Traditional untrained provider even quacks still provide unsafe abortion services. The problem of unsafe abortion and illegal providers some time discussed on newspaper while there is a serious abortion complication reported.

Source: 

A bibliography on Menstrual Regulation and Abortion Studies in Bangladesh, Compiled by Dr. Halida Hanum Akhter and Dr. Tabassum Ferdous Khan, Promotion of essential and Reproductive Health and Technology (BIRPERHT), December 1996,  BDHS 2004 and  2008,  Brochure of SAAF Project and Information booklet (Tothow Konika) of BWHC consortium.