The Thai authorities have prepared a bill allowing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Bangkok Post reported.
Parliament is expected to pass the new law approved by the cabinet by the minister by February 2021. The document contains two amendments to the country’s criminal code. The bill also removes liability for doctors who helped to get rid of the fetus while observing all the rules. Moreover, fines for women who have abortions longer than 12 weeks are also reduced.
Earlier, the Constitutional Court of Thailand recognized that women have every right to have abortions … The resolution will enter into force on February 13, 2021, and it was this that brought the new bill closer. According to the court’s decision, article of the 1957 Penal Code contradicts Articles 27 and 28 of the Thai Constitution: they enshrine equal human rights and freedoms.
It is known that due to the old law, about 200 thousand women were forced to have an abortion clandestinely every year. If the police found out about it, the girls had to pay a fine of 60 thousand baht (152 thousand rubles). Currently, pregnancy is considered an exception to the articles of the code, which poses a threat to the physical or mental health of the mother and serious deviations in the health of the fetus. Girls under 15 who have been raped are also not punished.