17th Feb 2014
17 February 2014
Question No. 752
Name of Person: Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song, Non-Constituency MP
Question
To ask the Minister for Health (a) in each of the last 10 years (i) how many women have sought to terminate their pregnancy in Singapore; (ii) how many women are referred to a trained counsellor for pre-abortion counselling; (iii) how many women decide not to terminate their pregnancy after undergoing counselling; and (b) what are the names of the organisations that patients are currently referred to for mandatory pre-abortion counselling.
Answer
1 The number of requests for termination of pregnancy in Singapore is appended in Table 1.
Table 1: Number of requests for termination of pregnancy in Singapore
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
Total number of requests for termination of pregnancy | 12,748 | 12,502 | 11,979 | 12,489 | 12,366 | 12,611 | 12,594 | 12,475 | 12,208 | 10,960 |
Source: Termination of Pregnancy System (with effect from 2003)
2 Table 2 refers to the number of women who underwent pre-abortion counselling.
Table 2: Number of women who underwent pre-abortion counselling
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
Number of women who underwent pre-abortion counselling | 9,391 | 9,246 | 9,090 | 9,302 | 9,156 | 9,134 | 8,860 | 8,779 | 8,365 | 7,561 |
Source: Termination of Pregnancy System (with effect from 2003)
3 Table 3 provides the number of kept pregnancy after pre-abortion counselling.
Table 3: Number of kept pregnancy after pre-abortion counselling
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
Total number of kept pregnancy after pre-abortion counselling
| 476 | 432 | 497 | 457 | 433 | 389 | 276 | 393 | 268 | 336 |
Source: Termination of Pregnancy System (with effect from 2003)
4 Currently, mandatory pre-abortion counselling is conducted by a trained counsellor (i.e. a doctor or nurse) in institutions approved to carry out Termination of Pregnancy (TOP) under the TOP Act and Regulations (which include both approved public/private healthcare institutions). For unmarried pregnant women below 16 years old, pre-abortion counselling is provided by the Health Promotion Board Student Centre.