Nepal: record in abortions among teenagers. Proposal to revise law
by Kalpit Parajuli
Since 2007, abortions rose by 42%. More than 70% carried out by young people under 24 years. For the Minister of Health, the situation is worrying. Revision of the law authorizing abortion.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - The increase in abortions among teenagers is pushing the government to propose the revision of the law allowing the interruption of pregnancy. According to a recent report by the Nepalese Health Service Department, (DHS) since 2007 the number of abortions has increased by 42%.
Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Minister of Health, told AsiaNews that the DHS report is worrying. "We are creating a committee to verify the phenomenon - he explains - and immediately take action, among the proposals is the concrete possibility of overturning the legalization of abortion."
Since the legalization of abortion in 2006, over the years tens of thousands of young women have resorted to pregnancy termination services offered by state and non-governmental organizations. The phenomenon has especially affected teenagers. According to the Sanaulo Pariwar Nepal (SPN), an NGO that carries out about 80% of abortions, this year more than 18 thousand girls aged between 15 and 18 years have interrupted their pregnancy in their schools. Of the total registered 89 thousand abortions in the country, more than 70% was carried out by young girls under 24 years of age.
Jyoti Baniya, secretary general of the Consumer Federation and a member of the Parents Association Nepal, emphasizes that "the government should ban abortion and save the lives of the mothers and foetuses." "The legal termination of pregnancy - he says - has encouraged our children to unsafe sex risking the lives and health of thousands of teenagers."
Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Minister of Health, told AsiaNews that the DHS report is worrying. "We are creating a committee to verify the phenomenon - he explains - and immediately take action, among the proposals is the concrete possibility of overturning the legalization of abortion."
Since the legalization of abortion in 2006, over the years tens of thousands of young women have resorted to pregnancy termination services offered by state and non-governmental organizations. The phenomenon has especially affected teenagers. According to the Sanaulo Pariwar Nepal (SPN), an NGO that carries out about 80% of abortions, this year more than 18 thousand girls aged between 15 and 18 years have interrupted their pregnancy in their schools. Of the total registered 89 thousand abortions in the country, more than 70% was carried out by young girls under 24 years of age.
Jyoti Baniya, secretary general of the Consumer Federation and a member of the Parents Association Nepal, emphasizes that "the government should ban abortion and save the lives of the mothers and foetuses." "The legal termination of pregnancy - he says - has encouraged our children to unsafe sex risking the lives and health of thousands of teenagers."
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