Abortion clinic in Jakarta raided

One of the leading stories on the news this week has been the raid on an illegal abortion clinic in Jakarta. There hasn’t been much reporting on the incident though in the Jakarta Post.

Apparently some of the patients died during the operation and some of them were as young as fifteen years old.

Johar Baru Police Chief Comr. Theresia Mastail said Saturday the police would search the clinic this afternoon after finding five embryos at the the same clinic yesterday.

“We suspect more embryos are buried around the clinic,” she said.

Tomy, a neighbourhood leader in Johar Baru, said the clinic had been operational since 1999 and was near her home.

“Residents have known about the operations at this clinic for a long time,” he said.

On Thursday, the police arrested the clinic owner Atun along with a doctor, employees and patients.

Atun said she had received an operational permit from a doctor and had been charging each patient between Rp 100,000 (US$8.30) and Rp 600,000. (ewd)

It seems that abortions are illegal in Indonesia. I found this rather disturbing article on illegal abortions in Indonesia.

Not allowed in cases of rape or incest, or to preserve a woman’s physical or mental health

Doctors face up to 15 years in prison if caught; the woman up to 4 years

Estimated 1.3 million abortions each year, says Indonesia’s Planned Parenthood Association

Almost all are backstreet jobs done by doctors or traditional healers