July
31st
  7:01:44 AM

China’s abortion surge blamed on young, single women

Govt poster extolling late marriage and one child.

A report in the official Chinese newspaper China Daily reveals some shocking figures on abortion in that country: 13 million surgical abortions a year performed in hospitals, 10 million abortion pills sold every year, and unknown number of abortions done in unregistered rural hospitals. “Family planning” statistics are usually considered state secrets, so why this sudden revelation?

Apparently, nobody knows, but the original report -- picked up by media around the world -- highlighted the information that nearly two thirds of the hospital abortions were done on single women aged between 20 and 29. A government official quoted in the report said nearly half of those having abortions reported using no contraception when they conceived. A sex therapist blamed it all on a lack of sex education (and doesn’t that sound familiar?).

Is this an attempt to distract the rest of the world from the abortions that are still being forced on Chinese women, in one way or another, because of the one-child policy? Is it meant to make us think that China is just like the rest of the world when it comes to young people, sex and contraception, and overlook the tens of millions of girls aborted because of the strict birth control rules imposed on Chinese couples? There are now 32 million more Chinese boys than girls under 20, an imbalance that is expected to widen over the next 20 years.

A China expert at University College London -- who thinks the 13 million figure is a little low -- says there is little doubt that abortion figures have risen in China as attitudes to sex have liberalised.

Hesketh said her impression is that young Chinese adults know their contraception options but are simply choosing not to use them because they know that morning after pills and surgical abortions are available if they get pregnant.

The procedures are "completely non-taboo, almost a form of contraception really," she said.

....

Whereas women in other countries might go ahead with an unplanned pregnancy, Hesketh said, the one-child policy has also made Chinese women "very choosy about when they want to have a baby."

"They want to control it, want to have the baby when it's convenient, like when they have enough money or have a big enough home, and if it's an inconvenient time, they won't go through with it," she said.

Just for the record, although China’s abortion toll is huge, so is its population. According to Alan Guttmacher Institute figures for 2003, it’s abortion rate of 24 per 1000 women of childbearing age is less than half that of Russia (53.7) and less than the overall rate for developed countries (26) and developing countries (29).

 



 
about this blog | Bookmark and Share

Search this blog

 Subscribe to FamilyEdge
rss RSS feed of posts

 Recent Posts
About gender
7 Feb 2012
More time online = less happiness among girls
6 Feb 2012
Changing the way teens think
3 Feb 2012
Enslavement of children, right under our noses
2 Feb 2012
Should we desire happiness for our children?
1 Feb 2012

 MercatorNet blogs
Style and culture: Tiger Print
US political scene: Sheila Liaugminas
News about bioethics: BioEdge
From the editors: Conniptions

 Archive
Feb 2012 | Jan 2012 | Dec 2011 | more >>

 From MercatorNet's home page

Pink Lego
8 Feb 2012
Why are feminists throwing their toys out of the cot over a victory for girl power?

Oh, Britannia!
7 Feb 2012
It's not her fault but six decades on, Queen Elizabeth rules a wave of social disintegration.

Tightening the screws
7 Feb 2012
The Obama Adminstration is attacking religious rights by mandating that all health-care plans, even church-run one, must provide cover for…

Shifty words
6 Feb 2012
What does “marriage equality” actually mean?

Unnatural Selection
6 Feb 2012
A book by a pro-choice feminist faces up to an unintended consequence of the West's fertility war.


 Tags
France, working mothers, men, children, abstinence, technology, same-sex marriage, education, homosexuality, demography, emerging adults, child abuse, family meals, child welfare, large families, young adult, adolescence, Obama, parenting, single motherhood, religion, work-life balance, immigration, childcare, motherhood, adoption, Spain, family breakdown, social networking, AIDS, self-control, sex education, China, gender equality, Hollywood, South Africa, trafficking, brain, fatherhood, cohabitation, child obesity, video games, child development, United States, family economics, Africa, family policy, smacking, research, mental health, commitment, family, family structure, unemployment, birth control, books, violence, morality, obesity, marriage, internet, education of children, United Nations, feminism, divorce, fertility, character education, ageing, health, media ethics, child safety, polygamy, prostitution, one-child policy, sexual behaviour, psychology, teenagers, family relationships, schools, fashion, girls, social media, dating, poverty, contraception, fathers, parental rights, recession, youth, family values, gender, pornography, child wellbeing, baby boomers, Australia, women, work, happiness, friendship, abortion, television, suicide, media, children's health, New Zealand, sexualisation of children,