Back to Square One: Attempted Legal Amendments and Abortion Practices in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Sri Lankan law only permits induced or iatrogenic abortion to save the life of the mother. Despite the restricted law, law enforcement mechanisms, and reported high national contraceptive prevalence rate, a significant proportion of pregnant women terminate their pregnancy outside the law. Despite the existence of restrictions and inertia, numerous stakeholders concerned about women’s health have made several attempts to liberalize the abortion law in Sri Lanka. Although several amendments were proposed to rationalize the abortion law in Sri Lanka, nothing has been successful – we are back to square one. Expansion of legal exceptions for induced abortions and improved safe abortion with the revolutionized medical abortion (MA) were observed in numerous countries globally during the past decade. On the other hand, some countries with broadly liberal laws, including the United States, have added restrictions. How these global changes have affected countries like Sri Lanka is worth studying. This article assesses the response of the Sri Lankan government and the society towards those global changes in terms of the policies and practices on induced abortion. Authors argue that the paradigm shift in abortion practices in Sri Lanka, driven by the emerging occurrence of medical abortion, has highlighted the disparity between the existing legal status and the aspirations of most Sri Lankans. Given the widespread support for legalizing abortion in cases of rape, incest, and fetal abnormalities, it is imperative the government seriously consider legal amendments.