The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, the answer is as follows.

¶ 02 (a) (i) The proposals submitted by the Law Commission of Sri Lanka in 2013 regarding “Safe Medical Termination of Pregnancy” recommended amending the existing provisions of the Penal Code to allow termination of pregnancy on medical grounds.

¶ 03 Accordingly, the then Minister of Justice submitted a Cabinet Memorandum on this matter to the Cabinet of Ministers and, on 2017.01.17, approval was granted subject to the observations of the President at the time. Those observations required that, if a Bill was to be presented to Parliament, prior consultations should be held with the relevant religious leaders. During those consultations, a majority of religious leaders opposed the proposal, and therefore the attempt in 2017 failed.

¶ 04 Subsequently, in 2022, the Ministry of Justice again held discussions on this matter and reviewed the attempts made in 1995 and in 2017 to socialize these legal reforms and the reasons for their failure. Further, those discussions considered introducing laws to broaden the existing provisions permitting termination on medical grounds, while also paying special attention to the potential social impact of such expansion. It was decided that the Ministry of Health would submit the relevant data and recommendations required to justify any such expansion of the law.

¶ 05 We must acknowledge that attempts made by successive governments to introduce such legislation have failed due to opposition from various religious leaders and sections of society. Any such law should be brought forward after broad public discourse. The recommendations are based on a 2012 Law Commission report, and practices and accepted international frameworks may have evolved since then. Therefore, it is expected to refer the matter again to the Law Commission of Sri Lanka and take further steps accordingly.

¶ 06 (ii) Over nearly 30 years, multiple attempts to socialize these reforms have failed. Any renewed attempt to introduce this sensitive legal framework must be carefully analyzed and introduced in a manner that minimizes social resistance.

¶ 07 (b) Not applicable.