KABUL, Afghanistan — The new U.S.-backed government is allowing abortions in life-threatening cases and distribution of birth control pills, ending the Taliban's five-year ban, according to health officials.

Under the Taliban's 1996-2001 harsh Islamic rule, abortion and contraceptive pills were forbidden though condoms were available in shops.

Desperate women trying to rid themselves of unwanted pregnancies often underwent torturous abortions because of a lack of legal alternatives.

"There were incomplete abortions that have been done in the back street, or septic abortions done in the rural areas," said Peter Lawton, regional advisor for Marie Stopes International, in a taped interview.

Third World methods often include "bicycle spokes or any sharp instrument," he said.

"I would imagine, unless they had some traditional herb or drug that they used in Afghanistan, the same sort of grisly methods are used here."

Rape was also problematic because it occasionally resulted in pregnancy.

In the aftermath of 23 years of war, "you've got almost a million widows here who were seen during the Taliban time as promiscuous by the very nature that they didn't have a husband, and maybe they were taken advantage of," Mr. Lawton said.

The Taliban Banned Abortion

Before the Taliban, "there was a law that permitted abortion to be performed in order to save the life of the mother. That was banned under the Taliban," he added.

"The situation now, which was clarified by W.H.O. [the U.N. World Health Organization], is that the old law is back.

"A woman can have an abortion performed by a registered practitioner in a government hospital to save her life or because the indications, medically, say that she should have a termination," said Mr. Lawton who met senior Afghan, U.N. and international aid officials in Kabul.

Marie Stopes International can assist with aborting pregnancies "up to 14 weeks" in some countries depending on the medical infrastructure and local laws.

"There is now the RU-486 pill which enables an abortion to take place by just taking two pills with very minor medical supervision" for pregnancies up to two or three weeks.

"Then you move into vacuum aspiration and there are two hardware methods. One is non-mechanical, which is basically a large plastic syringe which works in reverse — instead of plunging, you expirate.

"The third is a machine which plugs into the wall. It is a suction machine which is used in Thailand and India and Pakistan."

In Afghanistan, "menstrual regulation, which uses the plastic syringe, would be the best way to go" if a woman qualifies under the law.

"You would enable them [pregnant women] to have a very easy termination, or menstrual regulation, which just requires about a 10-minute procedure with a local anesthetic."

"Menstrual Regulation"

Islamic law and tradition concerning abortion varies among Muslim nations.

"Pakistan does not permit abortion but in public hospitals there is provision for abortion to take place, I think, under exceptional circumstances.

"In the case of Indonesia, when Stopes went in there, we were permitted by the government to experiment with things that were not permitted by anybody else [in Indonesia], such as male sterilization which was not done in Indonesia, and menstrual regulation."

That technique involves "regulating the menstrual fluid because it is believed by the doctor that there is some problem, some blockage or something that could be injurious to the woman's health.

"It is a euphemism for bringing on the period," he said.

"Abortion is illegal in Indonesia and Bangladesh, but menstrual regulation is permitted. They do permit, provided it is done in a registered clinic, menstrual regulation to be done — which is effectively an abortion."

Marie Stopes International is a British non-profit organization.

"Their field is safe motherhood and reproductive health," Mr. Lawson said.

"It receives funding from the British government's overseas aid organizations, from the European Community, from trusts and foundations and from the U.N.," he said.

Marie Stopes International is not currently operating in Afghanistan, but Mr. Lawson may recommend they do so in about three months if the security situation improves.

He visited some Afghan health clinics and distributed free condoms and birth control pills, including Depo-Provera.

The U.N. Population Fund issued a report in December focusing on Afghanistan which said, "Only 12 percent of pregnant women have access to maternal and emergency obstetric care."

It added: "Early age at marriage contributes to a total fertility rate as high as nine [babies] per woman.

"High-risk pregnancies combined with malnutrition and little or no antenatal care, and a contraceptive prevalence rate of about two percent, creates a deadly combination for women and girls," the U.N. report said.

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Richard S. Ehrlich has a Master's Degree in Journalism from Columbia University, and is the co-author of the classic book of epistolary history, "HELLO MY BIG BIG HONEY!" -- Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews.

His web page is located at http://www.oocities.org/asia_correspondent and he may be reached by email: animists *at* yahoo dot com.