THE Ministry of Health made the right move in extending pre-abortion counselling to all pregnant women seeking to terminate their pregnancies in Singapore ("Pre-abortion counselling for all"; Tuesday).
On its website, the ministry said that it is currently standardising the counselling components so that holistic information is provided to the pregnant women, and is putting in place a refresher training course for abortion counsellors to update their counselling skills.
It will also "ensure that all relevant aspects, including the psychological and emotional ones, are covered during counselling".
These improvements to pre-abortion counselling are a welcome shift away from the former framework, which excluded certain women from counselling on the basis of their nationality, educational status and number of children.
"Abortion is a social, more than a medical, issue," said then Minister of State for Health Yeo Cheow Tong, when laying out plans for mandatory pre-abortion counselling in 1986. "Any reduction in the number of abortions will require a change in society's attitude towards not only abortion but also marriage, responsible parenthood, illegitimate children and unwanted children."
Mr Yeo's observations are equally applicable today, since the majority of abortions in Singapore are done for socio-economic reasons, including family issues.
In 2013, the most commonly cited reason for choosing an abortion was that the woman was unwed, divorced or widowed. That was followed by those who said they had enough children and those not ready to start a family ("Abortions fall to 30-year low"; July 27, 2014).
By adopting a holistic approach towards pre-abortion counselling, the Health Ministry has taken a positive step towards empowering women who are considering abortion to make conscientious and informed choices.
Moving forward, different government ministries, voluntary welfare organisations, community groups and all stakeholders should work together to build a compassionate society that is ready to help all who are in need, such as women considering abortion, and their families.
Darius Lee
On its website, the ministry said that it is currently standardising the counselling components so that holistic information is provided to the pregnant women, and is putting in place a refresher training course for abortion counsellors to update their counselling skills.
It will also "ensure that all relevant aspects, including the psychological and emotional ones, are covered during counselling".
These improvements to pre-abortion counselling are a welcome shift away from the former framework, which excluded certain women from counselling on the basis of their nationality, educational status and number of children.
"Abortion is a social, more than a medical, issue," said then Minister of State for Health Yeo Cheow Tong, when laying out plans for mandatory pre-abortion counselling in 1986. "Any reduction in the number of abortions will require a change in society's attitude towards not only abortion but also marriage, responsible parenthood, illegitimate children and unwanted children."
Mr Yeo's observations are equally applicable today, since the majority of abortions in Singapore are done for socio-economic reasons, including family issues.
In 2013, the most commonly cited reason for choosing an abortion was that the woman was unwed, divorced or widowed. That was followed by those who said they had enough children and those not ready to start a family ("Abortions fall to 30-year low"; July 27, 2014).
By adopting a holistic approach towards pre-abortion counselling, the Health Ministry has taken a positive step towards empowering women who are considering abortion to make conscientious and informed choices.
Moving forward, different government ministries, voluntary welfare organisations, community groups and all stakeholders should work together to build a compassionate society that is ready to help all who are in need, such as women considering abortion, and their families.
Darius Lee
