The fact is that “laws” should be revised and amended to align with the ever-changing social context. The Criminal Code regarding the offense of causing abortion has been in use for over 60 years, while Thai society, economy, and politics have undergone significant changes.
As a result, in 2017, the Committee for the Revision of the Criminal Code, under the Office of the Council of State, proposed amendments to Sections 301-305 of the Criminal Code. The trend is to interpret health to include mental health and cases where the fetus has disabilities or is at high risk of genetic diseases. Currently, this consideration has not been completed.
Concrete problems arising in Thai society from family, economic, and social pressures that drive women to decide to terminate pregnancies include abandonment by the male partner, risk of being expelled from school or losing a job, poverty preventing them from raising a child, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, pregnancies with a married man, pregnancies while the husband is imprisoned or conscripted, domestic violence, or failed contraception. Additionally, it is found that in many cases, women decide to terminate pregnancies because they want a better future.
Besides amending the law to keep up with the changing society, there should be a dimension of amendment to ensure fairness, especially in Section 301, which states that any woman who causes herself to have an abortion or consents to another person causing her to have an abortion is guilty under the law. The fact is that pregnancy does not occur solely from the woman’s side. This law intentionally neglects to penalize men who cause women to become pregnant, which contradicts the principle of equal legal protection for men and women under the highest law, the “Constitution.”