The prevalence of induced abortion in Pakistan is difficult to determine with any accuracy because of lack of accurate data.  A study conducted by Population Council in urban as well as rural areas of four provinces at the turn of the century estimated that 890,000 induced abortions were performed during 2002. As per the estimates, the study determined the annual abortion rate of around 29 per 1,000 women aged 15–49 years .

The same Population Council study highlighted thehigh mortality and morbidity rates associated with induced abortions. About 197, 000 women were treated for abortion related complications i.e. almost a fourth (23%) of all Pakistani women who had undergone abortion were hospitalized for treatment of complications. While the exact contribution of induced abortion to the overall MMR is unknown, WHO estimates 2-12 percent of maternal deaths in Pakistan due to complication of abortion.

As far as the legal environment for induced abortion is concerned, abortion is illegal in Pakistan. Islam permits prevention and termination of pregnancy only for valid and exceptional reasons. The law does not permit abortion for foetal defects. Abortion is allowed only when the life of the mother is endangered. Abortion invites strict punitive measures such as imprisonment and monetary punishment. Enforcement of the law is the joint responsibility of the medical, police and legal professionals. Their awareness and attitudes about the circumstances that lead to abortions, the legality of abortion and the international context is therefore critical to provision of safe services to women who seek abortion.

In 2008, ASAP planned a multi-country study that went beyond the community- provider interface and explored the views of gatekeepers such as lawmakers and implementers who are outside the service provision field. The findings from the interviews with legal professionals in Pakistan are presented against the overview of the abortion statistics and the legal context of abortion in the country.

Abortion Trends:

Majority of respondents mentioned that abortion being illegal, the activity is done in a clandestine manner and since there are no records it is difficult to estimate the actual number of abortions that take place in a year in the country. Their guestimates ranged from 5 to 80 percent of the pregnancies or 100 to 1000 abortions in a year. A final year law student who also claims to practice Civil law for last six months said,

“We don’t know the counts; we always talk about these things behind the law force. We don’t discuss it in a meeting or during lunch. Men cannot talk about it much as women can. Sometimes even doctors don’t say the truth; I am sure the reports are changed and are not on the fact basis”

Abortion As A Right:

More than two thirds (20/29) who talked about the rights of the unborn child. A law student who was doing his internship at a reputed law firm said,

“You can get sexual reproductive rights only when you are married. This right is not given to a single individual but to both husband and wife. If we talk about social justice so how can you make abortion your right? How can you argue for it, simply on the same ground that the couple doesn’t want a child? Sexual rights
are confined to the marital agreement. Reproductive right is
actually the right of the fetus?”

There was only one lone voice from amongst the respondents who argued for abortion as a purely woman’s rights issue. This lawyer with a decade old experience of practicing corporate, civil, criminal and income tax laws said,

“We think that a woman has only few duties like taking care but in any religion or law there is no such law to enforce this duty on her. I think that a woman should have the right to conceive or not to conceive the child according to her will. Husband should be involved but he should not impose. Pakistan is signatory to international agreements. Since it is signatory than to implement its international declaration on it is a contractual obligation for Pakistan. We are signatory of the universal declaration of human rights, so we should implement it”.

Discussions:

The state structures, institutions and laws in Pakistan are created to conform to the tenets of Islam. Sensitive matters pertaining to sexual and reproductive health therefore do not find place in public domain even in the form of performance on indicators of women’s health.

Abortion was not quoted as a woman’s rights issue by most in this study despite the country being signatory to the ICPD and CEDAW agreements. Sexual and reproductive rights and abortion were seen as women’s rights issue mainly in the context of marriage. Tenets of Islam were quoted as justification for all these views. Thus, absence of clear policy, stringent and restrictive law, lack of reliable data, deterrent attitude of service providers and law enforcement officials, and unawareness of law enforcement officials about legality of abortion, together seemed to adversely affect the availability of safe abortion services to women in the country.

Read the Complete Paper Here: http://asap-asia.org/publications/2009/Pakistan_Abortion_Booklet_Update.pdf