Gender Inequality in The Concept of Legislation: A Case Study of Abortion

Abstract

The purposes of this research are to 1) analyze the concept of abortion legislation, 2) analyze the implementation of policies for preventing unwanted adolescent pregnancy in secondary schools under the Provincial Administrative Organization in Mahasarakham, and 3) analyze differences in policy implementation for female and male students. This article used qualitative methodology to collect data from books, research papers, official documents, minutes of the meeting of the ad-hoc committee, minutes of the meeting of the House of Representatives, minutes of the meeting of the senators, and in-depth interviews with the doctor and activist involved in amending the Criminal Code regarding abortion. The results showed that 1) the legislation of intentional abortion is an offense of pregnant women under the Criminal Code; It is a punishment that limits the rights and liberties of women and gender equality. 2) The policy implementation to prevent unwanted pregnancy at the school level has been adopted as a campaign to create knowledge for students and made a network of cooperation between schools and hospitals. If female students are pregnant, the school has a support policy so students can study and conceive simultaneously. 3) The teachers were implementing the preventing pregnancy policy for female students more than male students. The teachers communicated with female students who were helped in learning and social life in school when they were pregnant. Dissemination of policies on pregnancy prevention is general knowledge information without selecting the target group of students of any gender.