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Liberalizing Abortion Laws in Sri Lanka: Prospects and Challenges

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dc.contributor.author Thilakarathna, K.A.A.N.
dc.contributor.author Major Mendis, H.S.D.
dc.date.accessioned 2019-01-16T07:27:46Z
dc.date.available 2019-01-16T07:27:46Z
dc.date.issued 2018
dc.identifier.citation Thilakarathna, K.A.A.N. and Major Mendis, H.S.D (2018). Liberalizing Abortion Laws in Sri Lanka: Prospects and Challenges.4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. p108 en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/19544
dc.description.abstract Abortion is legally defined as the removal of the fetus from the uterus any time before its gestation is completed. The law governing abortions in Sri Lanka is contained in the Penal Code Ordinance No 02 of 1883. According to section 303 of the code, abortion is only permitted when carried out for saving the mother’s life. Sri Lanka is found as one of the countries with the most restrictive laws on abortions in south Asian region along with Afghanistan. However, even with these restrictions it is estimated that, Sri Lanka has one of the highest abortion rates in the world. The penal laws enacted in the colonial times and those relating to abortions were tried to be reformed several times including the most recent initiative taken by the law commission of Sri Lanka in 2013 when they proposed rape and foetal impairment as two further grounds for obtaining a legal abortion. However, no actions have been taken still regarding the liberalization of the provisions pertaining to abortions and this has resulted in women who are living with low income levels being unable access public medical care facilities for obtaining an abortion on permitted grounds due to the restrictiveness of the law. Using a qualitative method this research is formulated to find out the respective prospects and challenges that lie ahead in liberalizing the laws relating to abortions. At the initial inquiry it is found that, the religious and cultural structure of the country has strictly opposed any liberalization and this has negatively affected the political will of the rulers in bringing these changes. The biggest fear has been that, the liberalization will result in a sudden increase in the number of abortions. However, results elsewhere have shown that, liberalization does not increase the abortion rates but helps to reduce the number of fatalities which results from unsafe illegal abortions. The liberalization of the abortion laws has become both a contemporary and a necessary change for the protection and enhancement of the rights of women and their autonomy. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher 4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka en_US
dc.subject Criminal Law en_US
dc.subject Penal Code en_US
dc.subject Abortions en_US
dc.subject Liberalization of Laws en_US
dc.title Liberalizing Abortion Laws in Sri Lanka: Prospects and Challenges en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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