Over half of Finnish abortion seekers do not use contraception
According to doctors, Finland's abortion statistics reflect loosened
contraception discipline and growing irresponsibility among young women.
The number of young females who request abortion is growing although
plenty of contraception methods are available. Moreover, even though
emergency "day after" contraception has been dispensed without a prescription for
three years already, the statistics have not improved.
Last year, over half of the abortion patients at
the Kätilöopisto Maternity Hospital in Helsinki admitted that they had
not been using any method of contraception at the time they became
pregnant. Only one in four abortion seekers aged 19 and younger had
remembered to use contraception. In comparison, only two years earlier,
the number of those abortion seekers who had totally neglected to use
contraception was considerably lower.
The statistics of the National Research and Development Centre for
Welfare and Health (STAKES) show slightly lower figures for the whole
country, reporting that some 40% of all abortion seekers had neglected
to use any reliable contraception. However, the trend seems to be the
same as in the questionnaire made at the Kätilöopisto Hospital in Helsinki.
Moreover, also STAKES argues that the youngest abortion seekers tend to
forget contraception more frequently than the older ones.
The growth of sexual carelessness can be seen even
in the statistics covering the entire country. While the number of women
of fertile age is dropping, the availability of various contraception
methods is growing and even emergency contraception is being dispensed
without a doctor's prescription, the number of abortions has not decreased.
According to doctors, in addition to neglected contraception a young
female who resorts to abortion often has even other ways of life that
indicate risk behaviour .
On the other hand, there are large regional
differences in the development of abortion numbers in Finland. For
example, in Central Finland the figures are improving, whereas in
Southern Karelia, the number of abortions increased by 20% last year.
Helsingin Sanomat
