Ismira Lutfia – An Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, edict that allows women to have an abortion under certain conditions could serve as a foundation for the government to regulate the procedure, Kartono Mohamad, former chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association, or IDI, said on Monday.
Abortion is illegal in Indonesia except in cases in which the mother's health is at risk.
Kartono said he considered the edict to be "progress" and urged the government to use it as a guide for regulations surrounding abortion. Kartono said Ministry of Health figures indicated that illegal and unsafe abortions accounted for 30 percent to 50 percent of maternal mortalities in Indonesia, the highest rate in Southeast Asia.
The council issued a fatwa, or a religious edict, on Sunday during its assembly in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra Province, that allows abortion for rape victims if the case is supported by medical evidence and police reports, under the condition that the fetus is less than 40 days old.
The MUI's decision also indicates abortion is acceptable if the pregnancy is a risk to the mother's life, even if the fetus is more than 40 days old. The council also decided that a pregnancy termination is acceptable if the fetus is diagnosed with a disease that it would carry for life.
"The government should put the edict into a regulation so that abortion could have a legal reference," Kartono said.
He said that such a regulation should license specially trained doctors and hospitals to perform the procedure so that pregnant women would know where to get appropriate and safe care. "The procedure should include pre- and post-abortion counseling," Kartono said.
Sri Wiyanti Eddyono, a member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, or Komnas Perempuan, welcomed the edict because it was line with the commission's policy of supporting abortion rights for women suffering particular hardships.
"Women must have the option to have an abortion under certain conditions," Sri said, adding that abortion services should be supported by proper facilities and improved maternity and reproductive counseling.
"The failure of family planning programs which result in unwanted pregnancy is one of the main factors contributing to the number of abortions," Sri said.
The MUI also issued an edict that bans yoga for Muslims if the practice incorporates Hindu rituals, but at the same time decided that yoga is acceptable if used only for exercise.
Pujiastuti Sindhu, a yoga trainer who is also a Muslim, said that the difference between yoga and Hindu rituals was clear. She acknowledged that some yoga practices used chants in Sanskrit, which could lead people to believe that the vocalizations are Hindu prayers.
"The chants in yoga are only used to focus the mind through the vocal vibration produced by such chants," Pujiastuti said.
However, she said that it was unavoidable to link yoga to Hinduism because it had been created in India in a culture infused with Hindu practices. "As a form of exercise, yoga does not have any Hinduism elements," Pujiastuti said.
Pujiastuti practices and teaches Hatha yoga, which aims to control and align the body and respiratory movements, and sometimes includes meditation without religious aspects.