Support for Unwed Moms Suggested

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

A group of pro-life activists called on policymakers Thursday to support single mothers, saying that discrimination and bias against them leads some to opt for abortion.

They recommended that the government set up funds and other supportive measures for single moms in order to reduce the number of abortions.

A 2005 survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs found that 96 percent of unwed women who chose abortion did so due to social discrimination and monetary reasons.

Choi An-na, an obstetrician and gynecologist representing a group of concerned doctors, said now was the time for the government to intervene in the widespread practice of abortion, pointing out that around 1,000 abortions are being carried out daily.

"Korea is a nation with a high pregnancy rate but, at the same time, the lowest birthrate among OECD nations. About 30 out of 1,000 women here aged between 15 and 44 underwent abortion procedures in 2005," she said.

Choi made the remarks during a seminar to discuss ways of controlling abortion, held at the National Assembly.

In Western society, pro-choice activists hold the view that women should have control of their pregnancies and the choice to continue or terminate them.

In Korea, experts say the country's pro-choice tendency has largely been driven by policy.

They pointed out that the nation's highest abortion rate among OECD nations was the consequence of the government's birth control policy in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was striving to achieve high economic growth.

Chang Seok-il, vice chairman of the Korean Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, concurred with them, saying abortion was widely accepted by society because of birth control policy.

"About 10 years ago or so, families were not entitled to get medical insurance benefits when they had a third child. This shows that the society implicitly motivated women to opt for abortions during third pregnancies," he said.

The vast majority of abortions (88 percent) were among women in their 20s and 30s, with teenage abortion accounting for 3 percent.

Earlier, lawmakers including Park Sun-young of the Liberty Forward Party, called on the health ministry to consider linking pro-life measures to those to increase the country's birthrate.

Experts, however, warned of the danger of such measures, saying banning abortion in order to boost the birthrate would invite a variety of negative social results.

Kim Tae-woo, a prosecutor, said linking abortion to the birthrate may help fight the falling birthrate but would result in the government facing growing social problems such as poverty.

In response to calls to ban abortion, Kim said policymakers' hands are tied as individuals are making the choice on their own.

Source: The Korea Times

I'm personally pro-contraception and sex-ed for Korea.

Comments

[love-flag.livejournal.com]

Oh korea...

[rawthorne.livejournal.com]

In response to calls to ban abortion, Kim said policymakers' hands are tied as individuals are making the choice on their own.

As they well should. The problem is not that they have the right to choose or not but that if they choose to have the baby, the situation is such that they receive no support.

Forcing women to have abortions is about as stupid as forcing them not to. Wouldn't it be nice if we could stop playing ball with female agency?

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

Forcing women to have abortions is about as stupid as forcing them not to.

MTE! Isn't that what Pro-choice is all about?

[jaejoongxyuno07.livejournal.com]

agreed!!!

[jorge-callas.livejournal.com]

Is discouraging abortion stupid then?

[purinyappykura.livejournal.com]

I think you missed the point...

[unsospiro.livejournal.com]

"consider linking pro-life measures to those to increase the country's birthrate"

This is disgusting.

A child born to a mother who can't provide for him/her is a child born into hell.

It is unfair to bring a child into a world where they're not wanted.

[miyavi-type.livejournal.com]

It is unfair to bring a child into a world where they're not wanted.
Completely agree. The first and foremost thing that a child depends on is the emotional state of his mother, his primary caretaker. If there is no genuine affection exhibited towards the child, he will pick up on it. Your childhood years are the most developmental and influenial years of a person's life. Sure a child can be have their physical needs taken care of but those emotional needs are the ones that are going to impact the child's life the most.

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

THIS, THIS, A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.

Lets have a country filled with children who are either unwanted, unloved, or unprovided for. It's fine as long as the birthrate goes up! Urg.

[cruel-disorder.livejournal.com]

A child born to a mother who cannot provide for him or her does not mean the mother does not want him or her. What you're getting at is what would be the socially responsible thing to do - only have kids if you're financially capable of raising them. So should poor single women get abortions so that the child she wants won't "be born into hell" due to her poverty? Or be a burden to society? Isn't that implicitly persuading them to get abortions?

Does the fact that it's a personal choice negate the state's responsibility to provide support and medical insurance to these women who may not be financially capable of providing for the child? Also, what does it mean to 'provide' for him or her? Just put food on the table and a roof over their head, or be able to send them to college?

I think the idea of illegalizing abortion on the basis of raising the birth rate is horrifying (and am absolutely opposed to it) but conflating the mother's class and her desire to keep/raise the child is just not a good idea. I'm not sure if that's what you're suggesting, but it's an extremely classist way of looking at the issue.

[bloody-story.livejournal.com]

Please teach them how to use condom it would be better for everyone.
Maybe there would be less abortion.

Moreover wtf having single mother who can't raise a baby but raise the birthrate ?
Women are such victims in those countries, she sould be the one to have or not to the child. It's her own body what does she care about birthrate ?

Korea have a problem with sex & family & women sometimes =/

[cherjae.livejournal.com]

oh wells... the social stigma there is strong.. and korea is surprisingly conservative even though they claim to be globalised and open and watsoever....

[jaded-skys.livejournal.com]

Yes. That's right. We'll make abortions legal, but we won't give these people any support for the child that they don't even want. That'll really work out.

SERIOUSLY KOREAN, IDGI. NOT ONLY SHOULD WOMEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE TO EITHER KEEP THE CHILD OR TO ABORT IT, BUT WHEN YOU DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO ABORT PREGNANCIES, AND YOU DON'T WANT FOREIGNERS TO ADOPT THE CHILDREN THAT A LARGE PART OF YOUR SOCIETY DOESN'T WANT TO ADOPT ANYWAYS, HOW DOES THIS, I DON'T EVEN.

[miyavi-type.livejournal.com]

It's not about the children...it's about their own state of mind really.

[jia-zhang.livejournal.com]

Although I am pro-choice, women really shouldn't be going about doing abortions so lightly, because it has ramifications of one's body, not to mention psychological issues. I don't understand why people don't use contraceptives, like condoms or birth control. *sigh* There really isn't enough education put out there.

But then again...countries that do have sex-ed have a large teen pregnancy rate I'm looking at you America. >_>;

[cruel-disorder.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I'm just preaching to the choir but no contraceptive (especially condoms or BC) is 100% effective. Sometimes that 0.1% just might make the difference or the woman didn't take the BC pills at the exact hour every day, etc. I think abortion is an option for those women caught off-guard as well as women who feel they do not want the child for any number of personal reasons.

I don't think being able to abort negates the state's responsibility to providing support and services to single unwed mothers who want to keep their child but are not financially able to care for them.
I've heard varying anecdotes regarding sex-ed in the States and I think it has more to do with the quality of it by state when judging its effectiveness than the fact that it's supposedly taught across the country. :\

[rawthorne.livejournal.com]

I dislike the idea that women are going about a medical procedure lightly. The attitude is paternalistic and makes the private decisions of women a matter of state policy - preposterous! It is also based on the unfounded assumption that women who get abortions do so because they didn't consider all their options fully before having sex, before getting pregnant or before deciding that no, they don't really want to carry an accident for 9 months and then be left with the heartbreaking choice between giving the baby up or raising him in shame and poverty.

[sabaku-no-leti.livejournal.com]

There was such a huuuuuuuuge controversy in my country, Spain, about abortion. Socialists wanted to legalize abortion and make it possible for 16-year-old girls to abort without her parents' consent (that doesn't mean their parents won't know, it's the girl's own decision whether to tell them or not). Right wingers and catholics were like HURR DURRR NO THAT'S A SIN and brought their overcrowded families, children and babies included, to the manifestations, making the children hold signs that said 'DON'T KILL ME' next to a baby photograph. Some religious school even showed fetus images to young students. That's sick :\

Statistics show that conservative regions are the ones with highest abortion rates. They're also the ones who block and reject sex education and contraceptive methods.

Really, nobody is forcing you to abort, they're just giving you the freedom to decide.

According to wikipedia, South Korea doesn't contemplate abortion for fetal defects. I don't agree with that.

So as the op says, pro-contraception and sex-ed would be the best, it'd be ideal if abortion wasn't just a patch to resolve the lack of those two factors and could be applied in cases of fetal defects, rape or any other justified case.

ps. abortion for some, miniature South Korean flags for others!

[hoyah.livejournal.com]

Sexual education could do so much to improve the quality of life for people everywhere. 8D

[czarny.livejournal.com]

I like you.

[maisoui.livejournal.com]

This.

[dominique-franc.livejournal.com]

well said

[velcro-undies.livejournal.com]

Maybe now they'll start bombing clinics and murdering doctors. YAY just like America~~

Prohibiting abortion is about controlling women. Period.

[maisoui.livejournal.com]

I'm personally pro-contraception and sex-ed for Korea.
Yeah, basically.

In response to calls to ban abortion, Kim said policymakers' hands are tied as individuals are making the choice on their own.
Good, but they really should concentrate on policies that support single moms who choose to go through with their pregnancy, rather than policies that " implicitly motivate women to opt for abortions."

[dominique-franc.livejournal.com]

I think this is a start