Nepal Plans Important Changes to Teen Marriage and Abortion Laws

Nepal is working on important changes to laws about teen marriage and abortion to better protect young people and women’s rights.

Amending Teen Marriage Requirements

Currently, the law requires young people to be age 20 or older to marry. Furthermore, any sexual relations under age 20 will be legitimately deemed an indictable offence, even under the base of consent. This rigid age requirement caused significant issues, particularly in rural areas where the customs are different.

To remedy the problem, the government is reviewing a new legislation called the "Romeo and Juliet clause". This would allow teenagers aged 16 to 20 to marry if both agree, but they would have to live apart until they turn 20. They could also cancel the marriage after reaching 20 if they want, unless they have a child. The government would also punish those who help underage marriages based on the couple’s ages.

The Home Minister has proposed two ideas: either lower the marriage age to 18 or adopt this Romeo and Juliet rule. Both aim to stop punishing teens who have consensual relationships but still protect children from abuse.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli recently encouraged young people to marry by 20 and have children by 30, to help Nepal grow its population in a healthy way.

Calls to Make Abortion Laws More Fair

In Nepal, the law legalizing abortion allows women the option to have an abortion up to 12 weeks gestation with no further conditions, then restrictions are imposed on abortion, such as health complications, and/or rape or incest.

But a lot of experts feel that these regulations are excessively stringent. Some women find out they’re pregnant late or face health problems after 12 or even 28 weeks but cannot get legal abortions. This forces some to seek unsafe abortions, which can be very dangerous and cause deaths.

Groups working on women’s rights want the law changed to allow abortion up to 28 weeks and even later if a doctor agrees it’s needed. They also want to stop treating abortion as a crime so women can make choices about their own bodies safely.

The discussions on the changes for both teen marriage as well as abortion are still going on. Many people hope that these changes will be able to protect the rights of young people, promote health, and balance Nepal's population objectives while mutually respecting human rights.