Thursday, June 14, 2007

Abortions increase

There were 400 more abortions in 2006 than in 2005 - a 2.3% increase. All ethnicities experienced increases ACCEPT ASIANS. The largest increase in abortion rate (per 1,000) was for 15-19 year-olds. 105 11-14 year-olds had an abortion - the highest number on record. The highest percentage increase in number of abortions was for Maori. Of the countries given by Statistics NZ, in 2005 NZ was second only to Sweden.

4 comments:

Andrei said...

but but ......

I thought all those sex education lessons kids shoved down their throats was supposed to fix this.

All that practice of fitting condoms to bannanas down the drain it seems.

What a surprise.

Anonymous said...

I am sure that no DPB for people under 20 would fix it.

Brian Smaller

Lindsay Mitchell said...

Brian, Some might take your comment as tongue-in-cheek. I will assume it is serious because, in the long run, I agree. There would probably be an increase in abortion initially while people adjusted to the fact of no DPB but eventually the business of having to take responsibility for any child you produce should have an effect on behaviour ie more use of contraception or less sex.

At the moment there is a ambiguous area. Because of the DPB a female can get pregnant and THEN worry about whether or not she wants to proceed with the pregnancy. Remove that window of choice (or make it much smaller)and I don't think so very many would be getting pregnant in the first place.

And Andrei, young people have always has sex before marriage. At the beginning of last century three quarters of marriages were shot gun. Sex education is failing in too many areas because the kids are ignoring the messages. Just like they are ignoring messages about not smoking. Let's give up that campaign too.

Lindsay Mitchell said...
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