TEENAGE ABORTIONS

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman asked the Minister for Health (a) in each of the last 5 years what is (i) the number of abortions by teenagers and (ii) this number in proportion to all abortions; and (b) if the trend is increasing, whether his Ministry is collaborating with other Ministries to develop programmes to address the trend.

The Minister for Health (Mr Lim Hng Kiang): Mr Speaker, Sir, in 1998, there were 1,368 teenage abortions out of a total of 13,838 abortions. In 1999, 1,424 out of a total of 13,753 abortions. In 2000, 1,730 out of a total of 13,734 abortions. In 2001, 1,698 out of a total of 13,140 abortions. In 2002, 1,626 out of a total of 12,749 abortions. So, as Members can see, the number of teenage abortions averages about 1,500 annually, and represents about 12% of the total abortions.

Pre-abortion counselling is provided to teenagers at the School Health Services, Health Promotion Board.

My Ministry monitors the situation closely and works with other Ministries, like the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Community Development and Sports, on sexual education programmes that aim to reduce teenage abortions.

Dr Lily Neo (Jalan Besar): Mr Speaker, Sir, could I ask the Minister whether he could enlighten this House on the possible reasons why about one in four pregnancies or about 14,000 babies get aborted in Singapore each year? And in view of the declining birth rate, what has his Ministry done to look into this matter?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: The decision for individuals to go for abortion is a personal decision and the reasons for doing so cover over a wide range. If the Member likes, we would put up a specific reply on the reasons. Offhand, I cannot provide the specific reasons with specific percentages. The number has not been increasing. As you can see, the total number of abortions had indeed come down from about 13,800 to 12,700. So, over the last five years, through our various efforts, we have kept the number declining, albeit in a very gradual way. Of course, we would like all babies to be wanted babies and we would also like to raise the birth rate. To this end, we work with all the various agencies to try and achieve this objective.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman (Sembawang): I wonder if the Minister can comment on how this 12% average in the last five years compares to the previous years, and whether we should be concerned about any trend in terms of abortion, especially among the teenagers.

Secondly, he mentioned about pre- and post-counselling - I do not know whether there was post-counselling - for teenagers. Is the counselling only meant for the teenagers? Are families involved in the counselling? At the same time, are the fathers of the aborted foetuses involved in the counselling process?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: The counselling is done as a pre-abortion counselling, as I mentioned in my reply. The counselling is mandatory for the young teenagers. For the rest, we will encourage them to go for such counselling. The counselling involves the women directly affected. And we also encourage them to bring in their families so that counselling can be done holistically. So we try our best to explain the implications and consequences, and lead the affected persons through the process. And there is a mandatory period, after the counselling, for them to reflect on the counselling and before they make a decision to proceed with the abortion.

Dr Lily Neo: Mr Speaker, Sir, am I correct to say that our abortion law was enacted in 1970 and reviewed in 1974? Is it not overdue to relook into this abortion law to keep up with the changing times and circumstances?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: We review the Abortion Act regularly internally, and I remember two years ago we had quite a vigorous debate on this issue too. So this is always on the agenda.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong: Sir, in view of the low birth rate in Singapore, would the Ministry consider greater incentives for promoting adoption rather than abortion?

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: There are such schemes in place and we have a committee to encourage procreation, marriage and birth. These are some of the measures which they are promoting.

Assoc. Prof. Ngiam Tee Liang: I would like to ask the Minister if there is a study to review the various reasons and factors for teenage abortion and whether more efforts should be taken to look at human sexuality programmes in schools, to make it mandatory, in a sense, for teenagers to understand the various issues involved. Because it seems that for some cases, abortion was used as a means of family planning or birth control. They use it as a form of birth control instead of what it should be. So, is there any attempt to actually step up efforts? I think there is a danger of a growing trend in teenage abortions.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: As I mentioned in my reply, we do work with MCDS and MOE on the various programmes to educate our young women. MOE, for example, has a sexuality education programme in the schools. I hear that it has been quite successful. This was implemented about two years ago, and they monitor the progress of this programme.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: Sir, the Minister has not commented on the 12% average and whether over the past years, the Ministry is seeing any trend in terms of teenage abortion.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: My apologies. I do not have the data before these five years. We would take a look at those data.

Miss Penny Low: Am I right to assume that for teenagers who want abortion, it is not mandatory for them to bring their parents along for the counselling session? If so, why so? Because if a person who wants to drive needs to be above 18 years old, surely a person who is below 18 and wants to go for an abortion should receive adequate attention and care and some form of family support in her decision.

Mr Lim Hng Kiang: We went through this debate two years ago - whether it should be mandatory and whether parental consent should be necessary before teenagers are allowed to have abortions. I think Members will understand that there are pros and cons. Many of the teenagers who come forward for abortion may not have the necessary family support. And if you make it mandatory, you may force some of them to undertake illegal abortions in the side lanes or even out of Singapore. So, there is a downside risk if you make it mandatory. When this legislation was introduced, we decided it was wiser to keep it voluntary. We make every effort to encourage the young girls to bring in their families because family support is necessary. But, on balance, we feel that if we make it mandatory for parental consent, then we may drive some of these young girls underground.