via the Blog at the WSJ:
which points to a China Daily article .
From the WSJ blog post:
These are some crazy numbers. Each year China is home to:
- 20 million births
- 13 million abortions, but
[...] the true number of abortions is much higher than the reported figure of 13 million, which doesn’t include abortions performed in unlicensed clinics or account for the use of abortion pills in the early stages of pregnancy.[...]
Some context and another crazy number:
According to a recent study, a lack of sex education plays a key role in driving up the number of abortions. Sex education in schools is often inadequate and parents rarely broach the subject with children. Meanwhile, official policies to spread information about birth control methods are still geared towards ensuring that married couples comply with China’s family planning laws, ignoring the needs of young, sexually active women.
Wu Shangchun, a national family planning official, told the China Daily that nearly half the women who had abortions were not using any form of contraception. Official figures show that 62% of women who have abortions are between the ages of 20 and 29.
From the China Daily article:
[...] A survey done by 411 Hospital of PLA (People’s Liberation Army) in Shanghai, for example, found that less than 30 percent of callers to a hotline knew how to avoid pregnancy, and only 17 percent were aware of venereal diseases.
More than 70 percent said they did not know sexual transmission is the major contributor to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
[...]
Abortions cost about 600 yuan ($88). Since the 1990s, doctors have not asked for a woman’s marital status when an abortion is performed.
[...]
About the Author
Additional numbers from the NYTimes on the same story:
One hopes that, unlike China’s family planning laws, Asia Health Care Blog will never be remiss in attending to the needs of young, sexually active women.
@James
I would have thought that the spam filter would have precautions against inebriated 3G commenting.
But, on the other hand, at least our readers care enough about us to comment while they are out having fun. On the likeability scale, the fact we got drunk-3G-messaged has to put us up near once approachable girls that are now unattainable ex girlfriends.
@Matt Hopefully, you are doing your part