Debated in Parliament on 12 Nov 2013.
Mr Alex Yam asked the Minister for Health (a) how many second trimester abortions were conducted in 2012; (b) what proportion of terminations of pregnancies have been for medical reasons; (c) how many girls under the age of 16 have been referred for mandatory counselling since 1 April 1999; and (d) whether any cases have been referred to the police for prosecutions for abortions below the age of 16.
In 2012, 10,624 abortions were carried out, of which 990 were carried out during the second trimester.
Less than 4% of the pregnant women who underwent abortions in 2012 indicated medical reasons, such as fetal anomalies or maternal medical conditions like cancer, lupus and so on as the reasons for abortions.
Under the Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) Regulations, it is mandatory for medical practitioners to refer an unmarried girl below 16 years of age requesting for an abortion for pre-abortion counselling at the HPB Counselling Centre.
The number of girls below 16 years old requiring such counselling has decreased from 109 in year 1999 to 51 in year 2012.
Abortions performed in accordance with the Termination of Pregnancy Act and Regulations are not illegal, regardless of the age of the pregnant female who undergoes the procedure.
I would like to thank the Senior Minister of State for the response. I note with some sadness that only less 4% was for medical reasons. I have three supplementary questions. First, overall, are we seeing a trend towards more abortions at a younger age? Secondly, if we look at our Termination of Pregnancy Act, we have one of the more liberal laws within our area. With changing social norms as well as the rising number of
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foreigners seeking abortions, would it therefore be apt for the Act to be renewed or reviewed so that we do not become a regional abortion hub? Thirdly, in March 2013, I understand the Ministry commenced a review on the mandatory counselling criteria. Could the Senior Minister of State also provide an update to the House on how far along the process has gone and when public consultations will begin?
Mdm Speaker, with regard to the first question on whether there is a trend towards abortion at a younger age, on the contrary, looking at the numbers, there is actually a gradual decline in the number of abortions carried out on girls below 16 years of age. In 2006, the number of abortions carried out on girls below 16 years was 84. This number has declined to 47 in 2012.
As for Singapore becoming a regional hub for abortion, in fact, the Termination of Pregnancy Act already has safeguards to prevent foreigners from coming into the country just for an abortion. This is because under the Termination of Pregnancy Act, the authorised medical practitioner can only carry out abortions for foreigners if they are the spouse of a Singapore Citizen or they are holders or spouse of a work pass holder under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, or they have been residents in Singapore for at least four months immediately prior to the date of the scheduled abortion. In that sense, there are already safeguards under the current Act. Of course, this will exclude cases where the abortion has to be done to save lives.
I would like to share that the total number of abortions carried out has also shown some decline over the years. In 2006, the number of abortions carried out was 12,032; and it was 10,064 in 2012.
On our review of the issues relating to mandatory pre-abortion counselling, let me assure the Member that we are in the midst of looking into the review of the TOP guidelines, specifically with regard to the issue of strengthening pre-abortion counselling including mandatory counselling, the criteria for mandatory counselling as well as the contents of counselling, and also improvements of the TOP guidelines. We are in discussions with relevant stakeholders including MSF, and we will conduct consultations once we are ready.
Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether more could be done for the pregnant women, particularly those who are married, to keep their
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unborn child. In this regard, could we do more to promote adoption, for example?
Even currently, under our regulations and the Act, most women, as long as they fit the criteria and regardless of their age, are required to go for pre-abortion counselling. If we look at the numbers, the majority will go for pre-abortion counselling. Pre-abortion counselling would include showing them the video of medical procedures of abortion and so on, as well as social and emotional support and alternative options to abortion, including adoption. Let me assure the Member that we will continue to look at ways to strengthen this effort.
Just one final supplementary question. I am not sure if the Ministry has the statistics, but for those who have gone through mandatory counselling, are there figures for people who have reconsidered their decisions after going through counselling?
Yes, we do have those figures. The numbers are about 4% or less. Many of them would have various reasons. As I have noted earlier, only 4% say it is due to medical reasons. For many of them, reasons could be that they are unmarried, divorced, they have enough children or they feel that they are not ready to start a family. These are the reasons. Through pre-abortion counselling, some of them do change their decisions, but the number is small.
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