Abortion in Bangladesh

Bangladesh originated in the area centering South Asia, surrounded by India, Burma, Nepal and other countries. Bangladesh is also one of the world’s eighth most populous countries. There are many ways Bangladesh deals with and used to deal with the topic of abortion. Bangladesh is still under the penal code from 1860, where induced abortion, which is a procedure done to end a pregnancy, is still illegal unless if the woman in danger, then it is legal. However, Bangladesh does offer a substitute for induced abortion, and that is Menstrual Regulation. In the history of Bangladesh, abortion has been prevalent especially during the years after the liberation war. For example, in 1972, the law allowed for abortion for those women who has been raped during the war. Then in 1976, Bangladesh National Population Policy tried to make abortion legal in the first trimester, however that ended up in failure, and the existing condition remains where abortion is only legal when the woman’s life is in danger. In 1979, Menstrual Regulation was introduced to the citizens of Bangladesh. Menstrual Regulation has been the main practice since then and that is what the Bangladeshi government allows over the use abortion .

Been in the family planning program in Bangladesh since 1979, Menstrual Regulation consists of a procedure that uses the manual vacuum aspiration to basically controlling fertility so it is not possible to be pregnant after missing a period.

Basically, menstrual regulation is the induction of the uterine lining and one of the most common ways one can have a menstrual regulation is by mini-vacuum aspiration. It is a very simple and can be done with inexpensive equipment. Its procedure also goes without the use of anaesthesia.

A study about Menstrual Regulation in 2013 consisted of 651 consenting women from 10 different facilities in Bangladesh. These were seeking menstrual regulation and were about 63 days or less late of their menstrual cycle. They were given about 200 mg of mifepristone then later, they received about 800 mg of misoprostol. Then data was collected where it recounted of their experience and the satisfactions with the procedure. The result of this data showed that majority of the women, which is about 93%, had evacuated the uterus without the use of the surgical intervention. Then about 92% of the women were satisfied with the pills and the rest of the treatment.

One thing that is very prominent is the lack of access to Menstrual Regulation. According to Anadil Alam, and his research above, he stated that even though menstrual regulation are centralized and free of charge, many women still lack access to it. And the main reason that many of the Bangladeshi women stated was the socioeconomic barriers. There is also the fact that even though it was free, there would be additional charges if it was beyond the 10 weeks that was allowed. Another issue was many of the women was not aware of menstrual regulation and the lack of education that some women in Bangladesh faced. And as Anadil Alam states that such barriers to Menstrual Regulation could be why many women turn to illegal ways to abort their pregnancy. Then there is also the fact that men have a great effect since the women needs their husband's permission to get one, where it truly depends, some men are supportive and there is the other underlying factor of money.

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