The government has taken steps to allow the national healthcare service to provide abortion services to young women who would otherwise have undergone the procedure in unsafe and possibly life-threatening conditions.
Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said yesterday that the government was aware of the considerable number of pregnant women forced to terminate pregnancies under unsafe and inappropriate medical conditions.
The National Health Security Office (NSHO) has issued provisions to the healthcare system for abortion prevention services, to ensure the safety of women of all ages through the use of both medicinal and surgical approaches.
There are 144 service units registered with the Department of Health providing abortion services in 23 provinces, Ms Rachada said.
Termination of pregnancy among those who are 12 to 20 weeks pregnant is in accordance with the Criminal Code’s Section 305, which regulates abortion. It was published in the Royal Gazette on Sept 26 and comes into effect 30 days after publication of the notice.
Ms Rachada said the NHSO had compiled information on services to prevent unsafe abortions. In this fiscal year, a total 12,544 pregnant women had been taken care of. To prevent unintended pregnancies, especially among teenagers, the gold card healthcare fund provides benefits covering semi-permanent contraception services such as the insertion of intrauterine devices, and contraceptive implants for women after the termination of their pregnancies.
For fiscal 2023, the NHSO will provide increased access to emergency contraceptive pills and morning-after pills as well as expand contraception services at drugstores, medical clinics, community healthcare clinics and nursing clinics that join the universal healthcare scheme.