Abortion Laws in UAE & Qatar

Every Country has its Laws & Regulations to follow. Depending on the Subject, Laws Vary from mild to severe, in the same way, Laws for Abortion in the UAE which include, Dubai, Ajman, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras-Al-Khaimah & Abu Dhabi, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain are different from rest of the countries. The laws in these countries are highly restrictive & selective which means you can have an abortion in only two conditions, sometimes which becomes a matter of stress.

UAE & Qatar Consist of large Immigrant community comprises of people shifted from all over the world out of which some are here temporarily for work basis.  While living here, these people have to follow the rules & regulations imposed by the government on the normal citizen of UAE& Qatar. If Women living in this country get pregnant out of marriage or wilfully wanted to terminate the pregnancy then it’s not an easy task in terms of availing of safe and legal abortion services due to these restricted laws. In Despair, women have only two options either DO it Yourself (DIY) or resort to unsafe & illegal abortion practices.  Doing any of these means intentionally putting the life in danger causing irreversible mental and physical damage. In many instances, minor to major complications may occur which means you will be treated as guilty and you will be liable for punishment for availing illegal and unsafe abortion methods which comes under the criminal act of UAE.

In UAE, a woman can have a safe abortion only in these two conditions;

•        If there is a Risk to Mother’s Life.

•        If proven with the fact that the unborn child will have to live with mental or physical deformities as fetal anomalies during prenatal tests.

Generally, if you don’t want to be pregnant, then a foetus must be aborted within 120 days i.e. Within the 17th week of pregnancy. Abortion of Foetus after 120th day is Illegal and it is not permitted. This whole case of getting approved for Abortion in the UAE is valid for the women who are married, and they are required to provide their marriage certificate as valid proof. Another bad news for Women living in the middle east is that they cannot avail themselves of safe Abortion as a result of Contraceptive failure.

According to  Islamic Scholars and from the knowledge & interpretation of Sharia, Abortion is considered a Sin and must be forbidden in every possible way. Even if the pregnancy is the result of Rape. Almost every scholar says, the procedure of abortion must not be performed after 120 days as the foetus acquire life, which means a spirit or soul is blown into a foetus on the 120th day, referred to by Prophet Mohammad. While others say, abortion is prohibited after the foetus is 42days old.

Laws in UAE & Qatar are very strict and written in a crystal clear manner which states when one can & cannot terminate the pregnancy. As mentioned above about the physical and mental deformities in foetus there is a list from which it will be sure whether the application for abortion will be accepted or not. Conditions like Spina Bifada, Down Syndrome, Limb deformity, or hydroencephalitis (it is a condition in which a fluid is built up around the brain); in all these conditions, all offer a chance of survival for the baby and does not justify under the law of abortion. Only if, Doctors are 100% sure that the baby will not survive, within 120 days then only Abortion becomes an option.