16% of Pregnant Women Seek Abortion

One out of six pregnant women gets an abortion, with young girls aged under 20 recording more than 7,000 abortion cases every year.

According to data submitted by The National Health Insurance Corporation to Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Hong-shin at the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee on Oct. 4, 657,831 women were tested positive for pregnancy at health care organizations nationwide from July through August last year.

Of the total, 444,496 gave birth and 107,523 suffered miscarriage, while the rest 105,812, or 16.1%, chose to get an abortion.

Young girls aged between 15 to 19 recorded 6,699 cases of delivery last year, with children aged 10 to 14 recording 31 cases. 44,301 health care cases were reported by related organizations in relation to pregnancy, delivery and contraception for girls aged 15 to 19, and 471 cases for girls aged 10 to 14.

Five elderly women who were older than 65 years gave birth last year.

“The number of abortion cases and unmarried mothers is much larger than the official data, and the rising number is mainly due to the preference for boys, lack of sex education and poor government policy,” pointed out lawmaker Kim.

Sang-Keun Song songmoon@donga.com