Taipei (The China Post/ANN) - Amid the very real concerns of Taiwan's declining birthrate, advocates for children and youth health Saturday (July 16) pointed out that within the last year, up to 500,000 women underwent abortions.
Local doctors, however, argue that increased education on birth control has reduced the actual number to roughly 150,000 at most.
Not according to Lu Hung-chi, who convened the meeting of Taiwan's children and youth coalitions.
Citing the number of local births last year as roughly 166,000, Lu said after talking to doctors and obstetricians, a high number of women - between 300,000 and 500,000 - had abortions last year.
Taiwan's Genetic Health Law stipulated that a woman may allow a medical professional to perform give her an abortion if the pregnancy or labor will adversely affect her health and family life. Lu argued that the law was too broad and relaxed, and pushed for tighter control.
The government should provide counseling guidance for pregnant women, he said, adding that they should be well aware of adoption as a choice. If either an unmarried woman or teenager experiences an unwanted pregnancy, the government can evaluate the case and match up the infant with a loving family.
Regarding the alarmingly high number of abortions, Dr. Pan Hung-hsing, an OB/GYN at Shin-Kong Hospital said the figure was not impossible, although from a traditionally Chinese perspective, he had doubts that the abortion number would be so high in the auspicious year of the dragon.
Based on the hospital figures, Pan said two out of 10 pregnant women that Shin-Kong treats wished to have an abortion, mostly due to economic constraints.
This should be a message to the government to create initiatives to turn an abysmal economy around, not tighten existing ¿genetic health laws," he added.
According to Professor Lee Mao-shen of Chung Shan Medical University, research shows that there are roughly 80,000 pregnancies terminated by pills or surgery; 150,000 at most, including ¿back-alley¿ methods.
The prevalence of birth control has significantly decreased the number of domestic abortions, he said.



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