Abortion in Thailand is one of the healthcare services under criminal law. While 74 countries worldwide, including China, Mongolia, Nepal, Vietnam, and Cambodia, consider abortion a healthcare service, similar to treating common illnesses, abortion in Thailand is governed by the Criminal Code Sections 301 – 305, briefly explained in simple language as follows:
Section 301: A woman who causes herself or allows someone else to cause an abortion can be imprisoned for up to three years and/or fined up to sixty thousand baht.
Section 302: Anyone who causes an abortion with the woman’s consent can be imprisoned for up to five years and/or fined up to one hundred thousand baht.
Section 303: Anyone who causes an abortion without the woman’s consent is also punishable and more severely than under Section 302.
Section 304: A woman who attempts an abortion and the person who performs it, if unsuccessful, are not subject to punishment.
Section 305: If a doctor performs an abortion due to health issues, rape, or if the girl is under 15 years old, they are not subject to punishment.
When healthcare services are regulated by “criminal law,” women who need an abortion and doctors who provide the service fear breaking the law, creating a gap that has led to illegal abortions in our country for many decades.
Section 301 is considered a law that penalizes only women, even though “pregnancy” results from both men and women. However, Thai law does not mention men at all. Importantly, not only the law but society also tends to condemn women who are unprepared for pregnancy, and if they decide to have an abortion, they are further criticized, without mentioning the men who caused the pregnancy and did not take responsibility…