Decline in abortion rates

A drop in the number of Asian students having abortions is contributing to an overall decline in abortion rates, a Christchurch expert says.

Statistics released yesterday show abortion numbers peaked in 2003 with 18,500 abortions, compared with 17,500 last year.

Lyndhurst operating surgeon Pippa MacKay said fewer Asian students were having abortions.

"There's still quite a number, but certainly fewer," she said.

Statistics show that in 2003 Asian women had 3500 abortions. Last year, they had just under 2900.

The drop in the number of Asians having abortions accounts for more than half the total drop of 1000 abortions over the past six years. MacKay said it was hard to know whether the decreasing numbers generally were because more women were keeping their babies or fewer women were having unwanted pregnancies.

"A falling abortion rate is a good thing," she said. "People don't want to have terminations. It's a difficult decision and it's hard on them."

Most women having abortions were in their early 20s, but last week she performed terminations on four women over 41. She said older women could become complacent about contraception, thinking they could not fall pregnant.

Abortion Law Reform Association president Dame Margaret Sparrow said the figures showed New Zealand still lagged behind other countries in its use of the abortion pill for early terminations. More than 2000 women who had an abortion last year had at least two previous abortions.

- © Fairfax NZ News