Indonesia eases abortion limit as Jokowi tackles women’s health

JAKARTA: Indonesia will allow women to have an abortion up to 14 weeks gestation in some instances, from six weeks previously, as part of regulatory changes aimed at arresting one of South-East Asia’s highest rates of maternal mortality.

The new rule, signed into law by President Joko Widodo this week, follows demands from women’s rights activists and health-care practitioners who argue that the previous rule was too restrictive in cases of rape, leading some women and girls to be jailed for terminations beyond six weeks.