Under Sections 312–316 of the Penal Code, it is de jure permitted to perform an abortion to save the life of the mother or in cases where their physical or mental health is at risk, for the first 120 days (approximately 4 months) of gestation.
[5][6][7] In addition, Section 309 of the Penal Code bans infanticide, prescribing a term of imprisonment of twenty years and a fine.
In April 2010, the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil announced that the Government had classified "baby dumping" as a capital punishment offence.
In response, the Prime Minister Najib Razak clarified that the Attorney General would only be prescribing the death penalty on a case-by-case basis.
In the 1987 case Public Prosecutor vs Zamihiyah, the defendant, who was suffering from postpartum psychosis, was sentenced to time served after throwing her two-month old baby out of a car.
Similarly, the Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance Malaysia (RRAAM) has estimated that there are about 240 clinics nationwide offering abortion services.
Nadini Archer and Rashida Abdullah also report a reluctance among doctors and nurses, particularly in the public health sector, to perform abortions.
In 2017, the Minister of Health Subramaniam Sathasivam called for the prosecution of anyone selling or purchasing medical abortion pills online.
In response, the RRAAM argued that legalising medical abortion pills would curb the black market trade.
[20] Pro-choice groups operating in Malaysia have included the Asia Safe Abortion Partnership (ASAP), the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) and the Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance Malaysia (RRAAM).
Pro-choice groups have focused on lobbying the Malaysian Government into meeting its reproductive health obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and easing restrictions on medical abortion pills like mifepristone.