KATHMANDU, MAY 4

Chair of National Women Commission Kamala Parajuli said there was need to continue the Ministry of Health and Population's directive during the initial phase of COVID-19 pandemic facilitating self-managed abortion and telemedicine.

Addressing an interaction organised by Forum for Women, Law and Development today, Parajuli said women continued to be treated as a means of reproduction which had perpetrated violence against them. Parajuli said if self-care option was available to young women in far flung areas, many women below the age of 20 years could avail of the service.

Senior Legal Adviser for Asia, Centre for Reproductive Rights Prabhakar Shrestha said the government's directive issued during the initial phase of COVID-19 pandemic allowed women to have abortion through self-managed and telemedicine services, which proved beneficial as women had easy access to medicine.

Stating that the preamble of The Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act, 2018, pledged to respect, protect and fulfil the right to safe motherhood and reproductive health of women ensured by the constitution, Shrestha said reproductive health right was a human right and a fundamental right which women could enjoy only when they had autonomy and easy access to abortion services through self-managed abortion and telemedicine services.

Results of the directives were quite encouraging. Had the directives not been issued, the maternal mortality rate would have been much higher, he added. He said the directives had rightly addressed the need of women and the government needed to continue it also to fulfil its international commitment.

Advocate Nabin Kumar Shrestha also said the government would serve women better if it continued to enforce the directives it had issued during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Women rights activist Jyotsna Tamang said although the government talked of women empowerment, it was behind in ensuring self-care and telemedicine services for women who wanted to end unwanted pregnancy.

Senior adviser at Marie Stopes International KP Upadhyay said the WHO guidelines said clinics were not needed to provide abortion services. He said self-care and telemedicine services for abortion was successful as 82 per cent clients were very satisfied. He said trained human resources could provide women safe abortion services at their own homes and that service would be on par with the service clients could get at any health centre.