Abortion reaches alarming levels

Abortion reaches alarming levels

PALANGKARAYA, Central Kalimantan: The abortion rate among
young women has reached alarming levels, a family planning
official says.

The National Family Planning Board (BKKBN)'s Director of Youth
Affairs and Reproductive Rights Protection, Eddy Hasmi, said on
Thursday that his office estimated that two million illegal
abortions were carried out each year, 30 percent of them
involving young women.

"The rate is worrying as abortion endangers the girls' lives,"
Eddy told students attending a reproductive health counseling
here on Thursday.

Young women, he said, had begun to regard abortion as
acceptable as a result of changes in moral values, particularly
as regards premarital sex.

The airing of TV programs glamorizing promiscuity and the
widespread availability of pornographic films and material had
contributed to the rising incidence of premarital sex, Eddy said.
-- Antara