There has been a growth in clinics performing illegal abortions in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
ISLAMABAD: According to a research conducted by The Population Council, an international NGO, Pakistan has an estimated abortion rate of 29 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age, despite the procedure being illegal in the country except when it becomes necessary to save an expecting mother’s life. According to the report, an estimated 890,000 abortions are performed annually in Pakistan. The study found that pregnant women who wish to have an abortion often visit illegal clinics where 23 per cent of the time the procedure is administered by unskilled personnel, which is highly dangerous as complications often arise because of the inexperience of the midwives who carry out the abortions.
There has been a growth in clinics performing illegal abortions in Rawalpindi and Islamabad with almost no check by the relevant government bodies. The issue has not been discussed openly because of religious concerns and societal taboos. It is high time to face this reality and bring the issue of abortion out in the open for debate with the aim to improve the well-being and reproductive health of current and future generations.
Dr Irfan Zafar
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2012.
