You can visit the Hong Kong Family Planning Association (FPA), maternal and child health centres under the Ministry of Health, or private hospitals for a medical assessment to see if you can have an abortion. In addition, providing accurate sexuality education to the next generation is one of the most effective ways to achieve the goal of reducing the abortion rate in Hong Kong in the future. In order to achieve this goal and avoid future problems regarding the practice of abortion, the Education Bureau (EDB), a division of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, has provided adequate sex education to Hong Kong youth.[36] The mission of the EDB is to communicate the positive values of sexuality education goals in the areas of personal growth and health, gender equality, sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual violence and sexually transmitted diseases [37]. There are mainly five learning objectives of sex education in Hong Kong, in which the consequences and disadvantages of abortion are taught. The five learning objectives are listed as follows:[38] Carla, whom I met at Teen`s Key, has never had an illegal abortion – both procedures she underwent were legal, but still difficult. She grew up in a wealthy family that sent her to an international school, where she never received sex education. An FPA counselor tried to talk to Carla about contraceptives after her first abortion, but Carla and the counselor were not connected. Two years later, Carla found herself with another unwanted pregnancy. Most importantly, the harmful psychological effect after an induced abortion should never be overlooked. She met the doctor at the clinic the next day, and the environment seemed normal to her – the office was clean and upstairs in a commercial office building. The doctor reprimanded her boyfriend, who had accompanied her, because she had made Tina pregnant so young. Tina remembers that the doctor was friendly and professional and that other people in the waiting room were also there for black market abortions.
«I met a domestic helper from the Philippines who was trying to negotiate a price – she was having unprotected sex with a stranger,» Tina recalls. The procedure cost just under $400 — similar to how an abortion by the FPA costs — and her boyfriend paid for it. The mainland – which has a different legal system than Hong Kong – facilitates abortion. In fact, according to 2015 data, China performs about 13 million abortions a year, and this figure does not include abortions performed in unlicensed clinics. On February 17, 1981, the Legislative Council voted 40-7 to pass the controversial abortion law and legalize abortion in Hong Kong. [2] The practice of abortion, described as[1] the removal of an embryo or fetus from the womb to terminate a pregnancy, has always been one of the most controversial issues in the world. Different civil organizations, religious groups, social cultures, and even governments in different nations of the world have different views regarding the practice of abortion. This wiki collaboration project exclusively summarizes abortion issues in the city of Hong Kong. This wiki collaboration is divided into several sections covering legal issues and regulations surrounding abortion monitoring, some informative data and research on abortion rates in Hong Kong, key factors that led to the decision to perform abortions, services provided by the government and some non-profit organizations, and last but not least, the related readings of the GRSJ 224 course illustrate.
Decades of the one-child policy – which ended in 2015 but still has demonstrative effects – have made abortion acceptable and common on the mainland, so it has never been more stigmatized than in Hong Kong. (The government also performed forced abortions during the 35 years the policy was in place.) Moreover, unlike Hong Kong, China is a communist state, meaning it does not share the same Christian values as the semi-autonomous city. Although only 5% of the city`s population is Catholic, many hospitals, schools and charities in Hong Kong are funded by the Church. Incomplete abortion, which may need to be followed by a surgical abortion. In Hong Kong, there is a law that ensures that pregnant women who have chosen to have an abortion must comply with the law under section 47 of the Offences Against the Person Ordinance (Chapter 212) [2]. This law shows that in Hong Kong, a pregnancy can only be terminated if two licensed doctors believe that the decision was made in good faith. [3]. Specifically, for a pregnant woman to have an abortion in Hong Kong, there are two conditions that must be met, they are listed as follows [4]. «The government has no official reason to oppose abortion. But they don`t support it, so they ignore it,» said Bowie Lam, who runs Teen`s Key, an organization dedicated to supporting young women in vulnerable situations. «For example, if four out of eight anti-abortion doctors are in the hospital, the hospital will simply stop functioning and the government will leave.» Abortion can only be legally performed by licensed doctors in official hospitals or with the Hong Kong Family Planning Association.
The practice of an illegal abortion or an abortion alone or in a doctor`s office may be punishable by a fine and imprisonment for the patient and the doctor. To legally perform an abortion, Hong Kong government Forms 1 and 3 must be signed by two registered doctors, one of whom must be the doctor performing the procedure (usually a gynaecologist). This means that to get an abortion, you need to get a referral from a gynecologist: referrals can be obtained from the Family Planning Association, the Ministry of Health (mother-child health centers) or a private doctor. The Hong Kong Family Planning Association, also known as FPA, is a non-profit organization. This organization plays a central role in Hong Kong society, whose mission is to «defend and promote sexual and reproductive health and rights and to provide information, education and related services to individuals, families and the community». [26] Its mission is to «play a leading role in the areas of family, sexual and reproductive health and rights.» [27] The Hong Kong VPA provides important abortion-related services; For example, it offers a «termination of pregnancy counselling service,» which includes pregnancy tests, surgical referrals, medical evaluation, and counselling (once after the abortion and twice before the abortion). [28] In addition, the Hong Kong VPA also provides other key services aimed at preventing and reducing abortion rates, including contraceptive and emergency contraception counselling. The Hong Kong Family Planning Association, an independent NGO, exists to help women access abortions more easily and fill the void for the city`s overburdened hospitals. While women who request the procedure will still have to go through the same legal channels and get two signatures from doctors, the FPA will perform abortions locally for women up to the age of 10.
are pregnant during the week of pregnancy. It also runs centres that provide specialist counselling to single women under the age of 26. Mother`s Choice is an independent, non-profit community organization in Hong Kong, founded in 1987.[30] In the mid-1980s, Mother`s Choice recognized a serious problem with abortion: during this time, some pregnant girls underwent illegal and unsafe abortions. [31] Therefore, Mother`s Choice, Hong Kong was founded in response to the growing crisis of pregnancy and illegal abortion practice in Hong Kong society in the mid-1980s [32]. This organization provides support to single women and adolescents facing unwanted pregnancies who need pregnancy counselling and baby care [33]. Mother`s Choice aims to provide critical and professional support to help young pregnant girls make positive and affirmative choices about abortion. Its services include: pre- and post-abortion support, personal abortion counselling, comprehensive assessment (covering physical, social, educational, medical and legal needs [34]. Since the Internet plays an important role in the adolescent`s network in today`s world, it acts as a source of help and support. Therefore, Mother`s Choice also offers online services, support, and forums that facilitate the exchange of professional advice and related experiences on topics such as pregnancy, adoption, relationships, sex, adoption, and pregnancy prevention [35]. Abortion in Hong Kong is legal under one of the following conditions: When I contacted the hospital authority – the government agency that runs public hospitals – for information on how they planned to reduce the waiting list for abortions, the spokesperson refused to respond. Instead, the spokesperson noted that in Hong Kong, abortion is not allowed simply by a woman`s personal choice. Although Women on Waves is not an organization founded in Hong Kong, it aims to prevent unsafe abortion practices and provides sufficiently accurate information on the practice of abortion.
[39] On the official website of Women On Waves, it provides online medical abortion services and counseling to help women access safe medical abortion. The Women On Waves website refers pregnant women who need safe abortion services and are less than 9 weeks pregnant to licensed physicians. Pregnant women must undergo online consultation and assessment; If there are no contradictions, women are given a pack of pills containing mifepristone and misoprostol. [40] Never, Bioeth N.Z. (2002). Chinese Moral Perspectives on Abortion and Fetal Life: A Historical Report.
