Frontier in Medical & Health Research
LEGAL AND ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE IN PAKISTAN: ASSESSING THE REGULATION OF MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES AND SAFE ABORTION PRACTICE
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Keywords

challenges, historical context, laws, opportunities, theoretical context

How to Cite

LEGAL AND ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE IN PAKISTAN: ASSESSING THE REGULATION OF MATERNAL HEALTH SERVICES AND SAFE ABORTION PRACTICE. (2025). Frontier in Medical and Health Research, 3(1), 1127-1135. https://fmhr.net/index.php/fmhr/article/view/3122

Abstract

In Pakistan, reproductive healthcare has a complex cross-section between legal and ethical issues of culture, constitutional rights, and health-related issues. Despite the acknowledgment of the need of maternal health as a basic right, policy implementation gaps and the health care facilities remain a risk factor in the delivery of safe and equal services. The current abortion regulation in Pakistan, which allows abortion only to save the lives of a woman or to administer the necessary treatment, causes a lot of uncertainty and usually restricts access to safe abortion, leading to avoidable complications of motherhood. There are also ethical concerns related to the imbalanced availability of services, the lack of informed-consent practice, and the issue of stigma that affects both providers and patients. The legal framework to be addressed in the paper will be that of maternal health and abortion services, and the mismatch between the law and medical guidelines and the on-the-ground reality.

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