Religious News - Abortions more common in Arab countries

ArcaMax Publishing > Religion & Spirituality > Religious News

Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.

Wedding Guide:

Get advice on planning your big day with our wedding guide

The Funnies:

Get free jokes, comics, and more! See them all on
our funnies page

Games:

Fun online games, quizzes, hangman and more on the games page

Abortions more common in Arab countries

Abortion is becoming more common in Arab countries as young people marry later and engage in premarital sex, family planning officials say.

While Islam bans abortion except when a pregnancy is the result of forcible rape or continuing the pregnancy would put the mother's life or health at risk, the public is becoming more tolerant, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"There's definitely an increase compared to 10 to 15 years ago," said Mohammed Graigaa, head of the Moroccan Association for Family Planning. "Abortion is much less of a taboo. It's much more visible. Doctors talk about it. Women talk about it. The moral values of people have changed."

One recent poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org found that more than half of Egyptians, Iranians and Palestinians say abortion should be legal. The United Nations estimates one in 10 pregnancies in North Africa and the Middle East ends in abortion, half the U.S. rate.

Because abortions are illegal in most circumstances, many are performed by midwives or so-called back-alley practitioners.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.

This news arrived on: 06/30/2008

Share this Story