2007 06: ‘Open secret’ abortions

NST online. Local News. 1/6/07

By : Siti Nurbaiyah Nadzmi

YONG PENG: A young woman walks into the plain, blue shoplot which could have passed for just another vacant unit in town.Not long after, she staggers out — pale and wearing a sarong.

Those in the know would nudge each other — another unwanted pregnancy has been illegally terminated.

The abortion "clinic", as it is whispered among locals, is sandwiched between a car accessory outlet and a workshop, within a row of nondescript, two-storey shophouses in the middle of town.

Located along Jalan Yong Peng-Air Hitam in Johor, the clinic has been operating for years and although it has no signboards, desperate women like Suraya (all names have been changed) have no difficulty locating the place.

Suraya, who held two jobs, had decided not to continue with her eight-week pregnancy, as she was having financial problems and going through a bad patch with her husband.

She had asked around and a friend told her about the clinic. She also found out that the general practitioner who ran the place had another clinic some blocks away.

Desperate, Suraya paid RM200 as a non-refundable deposit and confirmed her appointment for the next day. She was told that the procedure would cost her RM400 in total. Suraya had expected it to be quick, painless and safe. However, as it turned out, the experience left her physically and emotionally scarred.

She had been told to take two white pills two hours before the procedure.

She then turned up at the doctor’s clinic at 8am with a friend, Latipah, who was to take her home after the abortion.

Suraya paid the doctor the remaining RM200. The doctor then took them to the shoplot. Latipah then left, after telling Suraya to telephone her when the procedure was over.

The shoplot had a presentable reception area with marble flooring and wood panelling on the walls.

The "operation theatre", however, was a different story. It was a makeshift surgery room with an old operating table, a stretcher, minimal medical equipmentand no proper lighting, except for standard fluorescent lights.

The doctor was assisted, not by a nurse, but a cleaning woman. "Once inside the room, the doctor asked me to lie down on the operating table. She then secured my legs with a pair of stirrups and injected a clear liquid into the veins on the back of my hand.

"I heard her telling her assistant that the dosage was not working. I realised then that the clear liquid was an anaesthetic to block the pain.

"Since the anaesthetic did not work, I was alert and could feel the pain throughout the procedure.

"I saw her inserting a plastic tube, like a thin long straw, into me.

"I felt something jabbing and scraping my insides. It felt as if bits of my body were being drained into a vacuum tank.

"I gritted my teeth and desperately tried to block out the excruciating pain, which made me feel like a limb was being torn off my body.

"It was over in about 15 minutes but I was so weak, I could not even lift my legs off the stirrups or hoist myself off the operating table. The doctor and the cleaning lady had to lift me onto the stretcher. They asked me to rest. Then the doctor disappeared, leaving me with her helper.

"I rested for about 20 minutes and asked to go to the toilet. The toilet was filthy. I then telephoned Latipah to come and take me home," said Suraya, shuddering at the memory.

Latipah said that when she turned up at the abortion clinic, she saw a trembling Suraya staggering out of the operating room, unaided.

"She was pale and trembling. I was afraid that she might faint." Suraya was in pain for several days, but, thankfully, she did not bleed after the operation. Nevertheless, she was traumatised by the whole procedure.

"It was a stupid thing to do. I regretted doing it," she said softly.

Meanwhile, a worker in a shop near the abortion clinic, who wanted to be known as only Ayuni, said she would often see pale women staggering out of the shoplot about 9.30am. When asked why no one had lodged a report, Ayuni said the locals preferred not to get involved.

"The abortion clinic is an open secret. Let the authorities do their job."

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‘Illegal abortion’ probe under way
NST online. Local News. 2/6/07.

By : Siti Nurbaiyah Nadzmi

YONG PENG: State Health Department officers were sent here to investigate claims of a makeshift surgery room in a shoplot in Jalan Yong Peng-Air Hitam yesterday.

They found the premises, allegedly the site of illegally performed abortions, closed.

Also closed was a clinic two blocks away which employs the doctor who allegedly performs the illegal abortions.

It is understood that the clinic had opened for business as usual at 8am but was closed three hours later.

The officers, from the department’s Medical Practice Control Unit based in Johor Baru, arrived at 11.30am and found a notice pasted on the clinic’s aluminium grille stating that it would reopen on Monday.

"We are investigating the allegations and will submit the report to the Health Ministry for immediate action," said a department spokesman.

The clinic, which offers X-ray services and claims to be a panel clinic for Fomema Sdn Bhd, has been operating for more than five years.(Fomema is a company tasked with screening the health of foreign workers.)

The clinic is also being investigated under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998.

Yesterday, the New Straits Times reported that a shoplot sandwiched between a car accessory outlet and a workshop in a row of two-storey shop houses along Jalan Yong Peng-Air Hitam, contained a makeshift surgery room for illegal abortions done by a general medical practitioner.

Under the Penal Code, medical practitioners registered under the Medical Act 1971 are allowed to give an opinion in good faith to terminate a woman’s pregnancy. Otherwise, the abortion is deemed illegal.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Medical Association ethics committee chairman Dr Ravindran Jegasothy said a pregnant woman must give her consent to a doctor before she could undergo an abortion.

"Illegal abortions are usually carried out by non-medical practitioners under unsafe conditions and, therefore, puts a woman’s life at risk."

Abortion is an issue debated in every country on moral and religious grounds. "Some countries have banned abortion, some are more liberal, while Malaysia takes the middle approach on the issue by granting a law to allow medical practitioners to perform abortions under certain conditions," he said.

Dr Ravindran said restrictive laws could cause women to opt for unsafe and dangerous abortion methods performed by untrained abortionists.

"There are many issues such as rape, incest and medical conditions which would lead a woman to come to the difficult decision to terminate her pregnancy. It is best to consult a doctor and get counseling before going for abortion," he said.

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Health officials inspect illegal abortion ‘dens’
NST online. Local News. 3/6/07

YONG PENG: Officers from the Health Ministry, on a check of premises carrying out illegal abortions, inspected a clinic and a shop along Jalan Yong Peng-Air Hitam yesterday.

The seven-member team from the ministry’s Medical Practice Division based in Putrajaya, was led by its director Dr Mohamed Khairi Yakub.

"Illegal abortion is a serious offence and we are launching an immediate investigation into the case," Dr Khairi said yesterday.

The clinic was being investigated under the Medical Act 1971 and Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 to see if it had registered the practice, he added. "We are also investigating if the medical practitioner employed by the clinic has been performing illegal abortions at a shop lot about two blocks away." A four-member team from the state Health Department Medical Practice Control Unit (Ukap), based in Johor Baru, was also present during the inspection.

Dr Khairi urged those with information on illegal abortions and other unlawful medical practices to contact Ukap assistant director Dr Haslina Zamani at 07-2245188 or the Putrajaya office at 03-88831039.

The investigation was launched after the New Straits Times reported on Friday that a shop, sandwiched between a car accessory outlet and a workshop within a row of two-storey shop houses along Jalan Yong Peng-Air Hitam, contained a makeshift surgery room for illegal abortions conducted by a doctor employed at a clinic located about two blocks away.

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ABORTION CLINIC: Check on health office
NST online. Letters. 5/6/07.

By : CHUA TECK BOON Muar

I WOULD like to congratulate Siti Nurbayah of NST for her report, "Open secret abortions" (NST, June 1).

It was reported that an abortion clinic had been operating for years in Yong Peng and that locals knew about it.

What troubled me most is the fact that the illegal abortions could go unnoticed under the nose of the district health office. It seems the authorities were sleeping all this while and failed to monitor medical clinics under their jurisdiction. Five years of illegal trade but it has taken just one newspaper report to expose it?

I call on the Health Ministry to investigate the district health office as well. Their ignorance (or innocence) has endangered the lives of many patients. The public deserve an explanation.