Women in Timor 'have unsafe abortions'

Women in East Timor are forced into potentially fatal abortions because they cannot legally terminate a pregnancy even for medical reasons, according to a Darwin researcher.

Restrictive laws in the mainly Catholic country mean women cannot request elective
abortion for any reason, including to preserve their health or save their lives.
Charles Darwin University (CDU) researcher Dr Suzanne Belton said although there
were no figures on the number of unsafe abortions carried out in the fledgling
nation, they remain the leading cause of death for pregnant women worldwide.
Completing the first study on unwanted pregnancy in East Timor, Dr Belton - a
research associate with CDU's Graduate School for Health Practice - said maternal
deaths in East Timor continued to be very high.
"Key findings (of the study) included that induced abortion continued to be
performed in secret," she said.
"Forty per cent of all emergency obstetric care was managing and treating
complications from early pregnancy losses, and doctors and midwives continued to be
reluctant to speak with women about induced abortion."
The study, Maternal Mortality, Unplanned Pregnancy and Unsafe Abortion in
Timor-Leste: A Situational Analysis, found medical professionals were reluctant to
talk to their patients about abortions.
Dr Belton presented her findings as part of East Timor's first congress on health
sciences in Dili in December.
"A huge problem is that there has been no research conducted on unsafe abortion
since Timor-Leste's independence from Indonesia in 2002," Dr Belton said.
"This study describes the context of unplanned and unwanted pregnancy and fertility
management, as well as investigating and canvassing a way forward."
The study - funded and commissioned by The United Nations Population Fund - also
recommended strategies to assist the reduction of morbidity and mortality associated
with unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion.
Dr Belton said the law regulating termination of pregnancy in Timor-Leste was highly
restrictive.
"The legal situation is complex and confusing for health professionals, given views
on abortion are influenced by the Catholic context of the country," she said.
"Access to family planning information, education and supplies is limited and in
three of the four health facilities investigated, evidence-based protocols in the
provision of post-abortion care were not used."
Dr Belton's research methods included analysing data from a maternal death audit,
monitoring service provisions, studying reproductive health indicators, and
face-to-face interviews with doctors, midwives and women recovering from early
pregnancy losses.