Hi everyone

  Every once in a while we get an e-mail from teenagers requesting information on matters relating to abortion. We just received another one last evening.

  Under the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1974, youths aged 13 to 21 do not need to get their parents' consent for an abortion. Last year, there were calls for the TOP Act to be amended to require such consent, but Health Minister LIM Hng Kiang in October 2000 reaffirmed that teenage girls did not need their parents' consent under the law and this law was not going to change. Mr LIM added that if parental consent was made compulsory, some girls might even resort to suicide. 

  Anyone - minor or adult - can go for an abortion. She just needs to get an approved medical practitioner to do the abortion. She also needs to give her written consent to the doctor.

  More than 2000 teenage girls, some as young as 13, had abortions in 1999. Unmarried girls below 16 years of age who seek an abortion have to undergo a structured abortion counselling session at the School Health Service conducted by trained nurses and medical social workers.

  The counselling aims to educate them on issues, such as responsible love, sexual behaviour and contraceptive methods, as well as look into psychosocial reasons which may predispose these girls towards sexual relationships and advise them on the social support available to prevent repeat pregnancies.

  During such counselling sessions, other options, such as carrying the foetus to term, are also discussed. The girls are encouraged to confide in their parents and the counsellors help them come to terms with this and find a way to do so.

  For more information, click HERE!

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