Bangkok Raids Net Illegal Abortion Pills

[webfact]

Raids net illegal abortion pills

By The Nation

In the wake of the discovery of more than 2,000 of foetuses at a Bangkok temple, police and foodanddrug agents yesterday seized a large number of abortion pills worth about Bt20 million in a raid on a shophouse on the outskirts of Bangkok.

The raid turned up 100,000 mifepristone (MT) and other pills and police arrested a man found to have been only guarding the premises in Bang Khae district. Raids were conducted at another three locations in Bangkok but found nothing illegal.

Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said raids were planned for another five locations in Bangkok and nearby provinces to search for abortion pills or any products including unauthorised diet pills, cosmetics and medication for pimples.

There are three to five illegal abortion clinics yet to be raided, he added, without elaborating.

Food and Drug Administration directorgeneral Phiphat Yingseri said a socalled "wombsqueezing" pill under the trade name Cytotec was highly dangerous and anyone merely possessing them would face criminal penalties.

The National Buddhism Office (NBO) will decideon November 29 next Monday whether the 2,002 foetuses found at Wat Phai Ngern would be cremated or buried, PM's Office Minister Ongarn Klampaiboon said yesterday.

Legally, the foetuses could be cremated once autopsies being performed by Chulalongkorn Hospital are complete, but a Thai tradition cautions against cremating babies who die before all of the milk teeth grow.

Ongart dismissed muchheralded reports on legal amendments to relax conditions further for legal abortion, saying the idea was not raised by the Democrat Party, but only floated by MP Sathit Pitutecha.

"The socalled freely allow abortion idea is not an initiative by the government nor the Democrat Party. It came from just a group of Democrat MPs."

He said most Democrat MPs disagreed with any change to the laws on abortion, which were appropriate under the Criminal Code.

The monks at Wat Phai Ngern called on superฌstitious lottery punters to stop gathering at the temple to seek numbers from the foetuses or conduct any activities that caused a nuisance.

Women's rights activists and academics call for the termination of unwanted pregnancies, especially among young women or students, to become a national agenda item to be addressed immediately by the government and society.

Researcher Naphaphorn Hawanont said firsthand accounts by women who have had unwanted pregnancies would serve as useful stimulants for society and authorities to solve such problems, if they are willing to speak publicly about the ordeals they have suffered.

A group of women's rights activists proposed making two new conditions applicable to legal abortion: ineffective or failed birthcontrol methods implemented by married women or their husbands that led to unplanned pregnancy, and proof that a baby would be born with physical or mental disabilities.

Mahidol University lecturer Krittaya Artchawanitkul said the mental health of women should also be allowed as a condition, not just their physical health, under Article 305 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates reasons for seeking a legal abortion, which must be performed by two doctors with the woman's consent.

-- The Nation 2010-11-24

[geriatrickid]

Now that this risky drug has been dealt with, how about a response to steroids and the counterfeit medications that are causing serious harm?

[supaprik]

madonna or "the morning after pill" is freely available at most pharmacies, is this illegal also?

[reason1]

Persecute everybody seems a great plan; how about picking a path through which is the least of evils as there is no answer that makes anyone happy – such as legalizing more cases ASAP? Surely the Pill is a better option than a back street butcher job?

[Bakseedaa]

madonna or "the morning after pill" is freely available at most pharmacies, is this illegal also?

I hope it is legal, my girlfriend has been making me take it regularly after sex...!!

[whybother]

madonna or "the morning after pill" is freely available at most pharmacies, is this illegal also?

Do they help with "morning after" hangovers?

[bushwacker]

<"There are three to five illegal abortion clinics yet to be raided, he added, without elaborating.">

Consider yourself fairly warned i.e. hide the pills. (and you thought tea money did not buy you anything!)

[animatic]

They should just make RU486 legal here

The FDA approved RU486 for use in the in United States in September 2000.

Unlike emergency contraception, which acts before implantation of the fertilized egg,

RU486 is an antiprogestin, which causes the uterine lining to shed after implantation.

For this reason, RU 486 is sometimes referred to as an "abortion pill," although it

can only be used up to six weeks after conception.

RU 486 must be given by a physician in three separate doses.

This is a much better and safer solution for all involved.

[Shurup]

Now that this risky drug has been dealt with, how about a response to steroids and the counterfeit medications that are causing serious harm?

Oh, really? What kind of "serious harm" are steroids causing?

[asiawatcher]

They should just make RU486 legal here

The FDA approved RU486 for use in the in United States in September 2000.

Unlike emergency contraception, which acts before implantation of the fertilized egg,

RU486 is an antiprogestin, which causes the uterine lining to shed after implantation.

For this reason, RU 486 is sometimes referred to as an "abortion pill," although it

can only be used up to six weeks after conception.

RU 486 must be given by a physician in three separate doses.

This is a much better and safer solution for all involved.

Agreed - the knee jerk reaction by the authorities now that someone has exposed the dark side of a 'free' societies unwanted mistakes, authorities are clamping down on anything and everything - grasping at straws. As said, this is a far safer way than backyard clinics. It may not make it right but there has to be some common sense towards what is happening. It will force abortions underground and back to coat hangers and witches performing the curette.

[housepainter]

Of course the final decision regarding the disposal of the foetusi will be in favour of burial.

Obvious because you can't make amulets from ashes. Once the BIB have brokered the deal, the sale of shovels will rapidly increase and then a new batch of amulets will hit the streets.

Lottery numbers observed on the dead foetusi. Whatever next? A man walking on the moon?

And for those of you telling me what a developed civilised country this is full of smiling, kind and generous people ...... it must be me as I just don't get it.

Ignorant, uneducated, superstititious and self-harming; yes.

I remain appalled by the crime, this one. I await the next shocker, almost on a daily basis that this 153rd ranked country merits.

153rd in what you make ask. Take your pick I say.

And I'm the farang ....................... the enemy within. The educated, experienced professional; one of thousands who've contributed positively within our own societies throughout our entire working lives. Yet we come here and are subjected to the cat-calling 'farang' dual priced on everything, and described as being a threat.

Spare me the pathetic listings of just what makes Thailand so good ............................ it leads in what exactly? The sex trade?

[housepainter]

I expect they'll be seizing the knitting needles next, putting out an APB for anyone with long finger nails and telling thier mias not to get pregnant while bending her over to please.

[artinamerica]

madonna or "the morning after pill" is freely available at most pharmacies, is this illegal also?

I hope it is legal, my girlfriend has been making me take it regularly after sex...!!

Errrr...uhm....Oh never mind.

[BigC]

Persecute everybody seems a great plan; how about picking a path through which is the least of evils as there is no answer that makes anyone happy – such as legalizing more cases ASAP? Surely the Pill is a better option than a back street butcher job?

corr with a population of about 13 million in bangkok. with allot of poor people competeting with each other just to savive. all we need now is abortion to be totally illegal that way poverty can reach maximum limits. by the way i am being sicastic

[fridgemagnet]

Well here's a list that will no doubt irritate Housepainter - We have beautiful weather, good cheap food & accommodation, no huge central heating bills, no poll tax, the freedom to do am awful lot of things that would be forbidden in Europe (&America).

Old codgers (like me) can have a really pleasant relationship with a girl 1/3rd my age, beer is cheap, so are small motorcy, the people are unfailingly smiley under pretty crap conditions that really deserve a whine or two, & you can even get away with not learning the language (not recommended) - and there's lots of expats to befriend. Crime is low - especially compared to England, so too for violence.

Is it just a habit brought on by having lived many years in a cold windswept country, where a bad cup of coffee costs a fiver, and eating out is only for those with pockets as deep as Michael Winners'. (Or else it's McDonalds). Even homeless people have it (arguably) better here - sleeping out in winter is not a death sentence, & the Wats will feed you, though the menu may be a little restricted.

Agreed, the dead baby issue is grim, but as said before, a safe 'morning after' pill would make a world of difference.

Edited November 25, 2010 by fridgemagnet

[SiangDeeMahk]

Now that this risky drug has been dealt with, how about a response to steroids and the counterfeit medications that are causing serious harm?

Oh, really? What kind of "serious harm" are steroids causing?

well..

[artinamerica]

madonna or "the morning after pill" is freely available at most pharmacies, is this illegal also?

I wonder about that , too.

But, my teerak has been using a "morning-after" pill regularly, as needed, and it has been working so far. (keeping my fingers crossed!).