TELEMEDICINE ABORTION DURING COVID – 19 AND THE CHALLENGES IN ITS APPLICABILITY IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

This article investigates the loopholes in Malaysia’s abortion law that make it challenging for Malaysia to implement the use of telemedicine for abortion during Covid – 19. The purpose of this paper could contribute to a reform in abortion law to ensure the legitimacy of abortion via telemedicine in an emergency situation like COVID – 19 pandemic. This article started out by analyzing Utilitarian theory and the Principle of Reproductive Autonomy. Both the theories and the principle of law arguably reflect that abortion is legitimate including during COVID–19. Following that, this article discusses the advantages of abortion via telemedicine as a whole. Further to this, the article will discuss the local literature on abortion to reflect that the law on abortion in Malaysia is ambiguous and outdated which makes it challenging to implement a new method of abortion via telemedicine. The last part is the comparative study and the author collates the challenges to enabling abortion via telemedicine in Malaysia. It is argued that, while telemedicine is a legitimate method for abortion to be used during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is difficult to implement the applicability in Malaysia due to the undeveloped and ambiguous law on abortion at the current stake. The author concluded that the current abortion law should be reformed and that much more work needs to be done before abortion via telemedicine can be reached its applicability. This article is significant because it paves the way for further research on telemedicine abortion from a Malaysian perspective.