Abortion

Reproductive health right is one of the basic human rights of women. The enjoyment of this right is vital for their life and their ability to participate in all areas. After continuous efforts of civil societies and international pressure to the government, the Eleventh Amendment of the Country Code providing the right to abortion to women has been passed. It also criminalizes sex-based abortion. Though the new law is a great achievement for the Nepali women, it only is not sufficient to protect women's reproductive rights. There is greater need of effective implementation of the law.

FWLD has been continuously working for the protection and promotion of women's reproductive health rights. The prohibition of abortion in Nepal posed serious risks to women's health and disregarded their human rights. Nepal has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world and it is estimated that more than half of these deaths are due to unsafe abortions. Illegal abortions have caused a series of human rights transgression. A 1997 nationwide prison study revealed that out of the total women in prison, 20 percent were there on charges of abortion and infanticide. This has been a major concern of FWLD as abortion in Nepal is a women's right, class, religious and social, information and development issue.

FWLD in conjunction with CRLP conducted a study entitled Abortion in Nepal: Women Imprisoned in the year 2002. The study revealed that 65 women were in prison on charges of abortion and abortion-related offences. In the year 2003 FWLD in collaboration with Planned Parenthood Global Partners conducted another research Struggles to Legalize Abortion in Nepal and Challenges Ahead as abortion was legalized, albeit conditional. This study cautioned all concerned about many regulatory, institutional and even legal problems that were still bound to be daunting to an average abortion seeker. It argued that some of the legal dilemmas that continued to nag the abortion right community could be put to rest by declaring a general amnesty to all women facing jail terms for abortion and related offences committed before legalization of abortion.

In the year 2005 FWLD conducted a research Activities on Release of Women Imprisoned on Charges of Abortion and Abortion Related Offences . The law had remained silent on this issue though abortion had already been legalized. This study revealed 65 women in different prisons of the country imprisoned on abortion and abortion related offences in 2001 and initiatives were taken to release them. All the prisons were revisited on June 2003 with the support of Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and Ipas to update the status of women in prisons for the offence mentioned above and identified 59 women (one on bail) in different parts of the country. Various strategies were followed to release the women and as an outcome, 54 women were released from the prisons from July 2003 – January 2005, turning FWLD along with various stakeholders' relentless efforts worthwhile.

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