CRIMINAL ABORTIONS (Cases treated and mortality rate)

Mr Yeoh Ghim Seng asked the Minister for Health how many cases of complications arising from criminal abortions were treated in Government hospitals in 1966, and what was the mortality rate.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Mr Speaker, Sir, accurate figures of the number of criminal abortions cannot be given, as women do not readily admit to interference with their pregnancy. An estimate, nevertheless, can be given.

The number of patients admitted for abortions to the Kandang Kerbau Maternity Hospital over the years is as follows. These figures were reported by the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital at a seminar of the Family Planning and Population Board on the 15th of January this year. Total number of With abortions Sepsis Deaths 1962 4,279 425 1 1963 3,829 465 2 1964 4,295 450 5 1965 3,386 258 10 1966 3,432 265 5

The approximate average may be taken as around 4,000 cases admitted to the hospital per year. This represents nearly 8 per cent of the total number of births per year in Singapore. As it is estimated that abortions of all types occur at the rate of 10 per cent a year, it may be taken that there are about 5,500 abortions per year.

Dr Lee Yong Kiat, who is a physician attached to the Medical III Unit of the General Hospital, when he was Medical Superintendent of the Kandang Kerbau Hospital, wrote an M.D. thesis on the subject of "Non-clinical aspects of induced abortions in Singapore", which was published in 1965. His study was over a period of seven months from 1st July, 1964, to 31st December, 1964, and it covered 1,676 cases. I should like at this stage, Sir, if I may, to quote page 102 of his conclusions:

`The yearly incidence for Singapore would be 5,000 abortions. The total number of abortions is usually estimated to be 10 per cent of all pregnancies, which in Singapore would work out to be about 6,000 a year. It is my contention that, of this, 5,000 are criminally induced. 5,000 cases is 83 per cent of all abortions, or 8.3 per cent of all pregnancies.'

That, Sir, is the study of an expert on the subject, and therefore I am inclined to accept the opinion of a man who has made a special study and compiled a thesis of the subject.