Public Prosecutor v. Dr. Nadason Kanagalingam, 9 June 1984.
The defendant, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, was accused of voluntarily causing a woman to miscarry, such miscarriage having been performed without good faith and an intention to save the woman's life. The Court upheld the conviction of the defendant, rejecting his argument, supported by an expert witness, that he had performed the abortion in order to avoid the possibility of pulmonary embolism, which might result because the woman had enlarged varicose veins. It held that the argument was not reasonable under the current law and that procuring an abortion was a serious matter to be done only as a last resort to save the life of a woman or to save her from becoming a mental "wreck."
D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000032:Abortion, Therapeutic; D001208:Asia; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D003415:Crime; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D003906:Developing Countries; D004194:Disease; D004617:Embolism; D005193:Family Planning Services; D006262:Health; D006282:Health Personnel; D007603:Jurisprudence; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D008296:Malaysia; D010820:Physicians; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism; D012940:Social Problems; D014652:Vascular Diseases
Abortion Law; Abortion, Induced; Abortion, Therapeutic--legal aspects; Asia; Court Decision; Crime--legal aspects; Delivery Of Health Care; Developing Countries; Diseases; Embolism; Family Planning; Fertility Control, Postconception; Health; Health Personnel; Malaysia; Physicians--legal aspects; Pulmonary Embolism--legal aspects; Social Problems; Southeastern Asia; Vascular Diseases