Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste

The new Penal Code in 2009 was an opportunity for Timor-Leste to allow some legal grounds for abortion, which was highly restricted under Indonesian rule. Public debate was contentious before ratification of the new code, which allowed abortion to Save G women's life and health. A month later,...

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Main Authors:	Belton, S., Whittaker, A., Fonseca, Z., Wells-Brown, T., Pais, P.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	EN
Published:	2012
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5187

id	okr-10986-5187
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-51872021-04-23T14:02:21Z Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste Belton, S. Whittaker, A. Fonseca, Z. Wells-Brown, T. Pais, P. The new Penal Code in 2009 was an opportunity for Timor-Leste to allow some legal grounds for abortion, which was highly restricted under Indonesian rule. Public debate was contentious before ratification of the new code, which allowed abortion to Save G women's life and health. A month later, 13 amendments to the code were passed, highly restricting abortion again. This paper describes the socio-legal context of unsafe abortion in Timor-Leste, based on research in 2006-08 on national lows and policies Grid interviews with legal professionals, police, doctors and midwives, and community-based focus group discussions. Data on unsafe abortions in Timor-Leste ore rarely recorded. A small number Of Cases of abortion and infanticide ore reported but are rarely prosecuted, due to deficiencies in evidence and procedure. While there are voices supporting low reform, the Roman Catholic church heavily influences public policy and opinion. Professional views on when abortion should be legal varied, but in the community people believed that saving women's lives was paramount and come before the law. The revised Penal Code is insufficient to reduce unsafe abortion and maternal mortality. Change will be slow, but access to safe abortion and modern contraception ore crucial to women's ability to participate fully as citizens in Timor-Leste. (C) 2009 Reproductive Health Matters. All rights reserved. 2012-03-30T07:31:42Z 2012-03-30T07:31:42Z 2009 Journal Article Reproductive Health Matters 0968-8080 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5187 EN http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Journal Article Timor-Leste
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	EN
geographic_facet	Timor-Leste
relation	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
description	The new Penal Code in 2009 was an opportunity for Timor-Leste to allow some legal grounds for abortion, which was highly restricted under Indonesian rule. Public debate was contentious before ratification of the new code, which allowed abortion to Save G women's life and health. A month later, 13 amendments to the code were passed, highly restricting abortion again. This paper describes the socio-legal context of unsafe abortion in Timor-Leste, based on research in 2006-08 on national lows and policies Grid interviews with legal professionals, police, doctors and midwives, and community-based focus group discussions. Data on unsafe abortions in Timor-Leste ore rarely recorded. A small number Of Cases of abortion and infanticide ore reported but are rarely prosecuted, due to deficiencies in evidence and procedure. While there are voices supporting low reform, the Roman Catholic church heavily influences public policy and opinion. Professional views on when abortion should be legal varied, but in the community people believed that saving women's lives was paramount and come before the law. The revised Penal Code is insufficient to reduce unsafe abortion and maternal mortality. Change will be slow, but access to safe abortion and modern contraception ore crucial to women's ability to participate fully as citizens in Timor-Leste. (C) 2009 Reproductive Health Matters. All rights reserved.
format	Journal Article
author	Belton, S. Whittaker, A. Fonseca, Z. Wells-Brown, T. Pais, P.
spellingShingle	Belton, S. Whittaker, A. Fonseca, Z. Wells-Brown, T. Pais, P. Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste
author_facet	Belton, S. Whittaker, A. Fonseca, Z. Wells-Brown, T. Pais, P.
author_sort	Belton, S.
title	Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste
title_short	Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste
title_full	Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste
title_fullStr	Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste
title_full_unstemmed	Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste
title_sort	attitudes towards the legal context of unsafe abortion in timor-leste
publishDate	2012
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5187
_version_	1764394247468875776

Attitudes Towards the Legal Context of Unsafe Abortion in Timor-Leste

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