Vietnam’s defunct but lingering family planning policies, poor sex education programs and easy access to clinics has resulted in one of the highest abortion rates in the world, according to a recent report.
The report, complied by doctors at Hanoi's Central Obstetrics Hospital, found that around 40% of pregnancies in the country end in abortion, double that of official statistics.
“A legacy of childbearing quotas, poor family planning advice for the young, and conflicting messages about sex have created a situation where some are relying on abortion as a form of contraception,” reports the Daily Mail.
According to the sexual health non-profit group, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, “there are 83 abortions per 1000 women of childbearing age in Vietnam, compared to between 10 and 23 abortions per 1000 women in much of western Europe and the US.”
The discrepancy between these numbers and those of that State may come down to regulation:
"There is no systematic checking on private clinics. There could be another half million (officially unaccounted) abortions," said Hanoi-based United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative Arthur Erken.
Young Vietnamese, who are having sex earlier, but getting married later, have limited access to sex education and in turn, contraception, according to family planning organization Pathfinder International.
But it’s not only young, unmarried couples that are opting for the procedure. Many women worry that having children has a negative impact on their ability to receive promotions and salary increases while some families practice illegal sex-selective abortions which favor male children.
Head over to the Daily Mail for a deeper look into Vietnam’s high abortion rates and how it will effect the country’s future.
