Fertility, Abortions and
Teenage Pregnancy in China
By: Shalisa Ali, Angela Ramphal and
Shannon Walters
China,
currently a well-developed nation, is known throughout the world for its
relatively highly dense population, which was noted to have been under several
family planning strategies in an attempt to control the rate and level of
fertility within the country. Among the many factors contributing towards a
country’s fertility rate and therefore its population, China was seen to have
tremendous effects stemming from the decisions made from the Government.
Several alterations in encouraging and discouraging the level of birth rates
within the country caused the spiral into policies and laws governing the way
in which people should live their lives and plan their family.
Delving in to the history of China’s various
alterations in birth rate, it is noted that there were many attempts to please
the government’s plans, and the rate of population growth somehow was directly
impacted by the decisions made.
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Population growth was
encouraged after the communist revolution in 1949, in order to facilitate the
government with economic and military benefits. Because of this act, sterilization
and abortions were banned and families received benefit payment as incentives
for having children.
Ø
By the year, 1954, the
population of China sky-rocketed and the limited food resources were becoming a
major problem as there was a high demand placing much pressure. This then
caused the first ever birth control in China to be introduced, however it was
short-lived.
Ø
In 1958, China was
taking its ‘Giant Leap Forward’ and in doing so the labour force had to
increase, thus the birth rates were once again encouraged so that there can be
rapid industrialization and modernization.
Ø
A catastrophic famine in
China (1962) wiped out much of the food sources and there was a death toll of
about 20 million, which opened the eyes of the Chinese government, showing them
that their neglect for agriculture in perusing industrialization was no good,
thereby once again encouraging births.
Ø
Birth rates then soon
began to peak at about 45 per 1000, retaining order once more and so another family
planning method was launched in the early 1970’s giving rise to the famous
Chinese slogan: “Late, sparse, few.”
Ø
However, nearing the end
of the decade, the government felt that the campaign’s impact might falter
which then alternately gave birth to the ‘One Child Policy’ in 1979.
The ‘One Child Policy’ in China laid down stringent
laws which govern and limit the number of births within a Chinese family,
basing their laws on a reward and penalty approach, (Slogan: “shao sheng kuai fu”
– fewer births, quickly richer).
According to a Sunday telegraph (09/11/97), the
official Chinese policy in practice states:
“…any pregnant woman, who isn’t married, should be
ordered to have an abortion…”
“…any woman who doesn’t have an intrauterine device
inserted within four months after giving birth shall be fined 20 yuan per
month…”
“… If any woman, who has had one child, fails at
birth control, the pregnancy must be terminated and the woman sterilized…”
“…if any unauthorized baby dies within three months
of birth, the penalty will be only 300 yuan…”
Being more effective in urban areas together with
the strong desire for a male heir caused the rates of abortions to
significantly increase, almost to the point where 97.5% of female fetuses are
aborted.
Due to some
poverty stricken areas in China, some people are forced to break the laws and
have their baby in secret, and in some cases, even sell their babies to earn
money.
Compared to the past, teenagers in China are
becoming pregnant at an increasingly high and significant rate in which the age
at which they become pregnant is decreasing; at around
fourteen and fifteen years old. Additionally, boys and girls have become
sexually mature at young and tender ages such as twelve or thirteen years, and
are even becoming sexually active thereby leading to more teenage pregnancies
as a result.
Attributed to the fact that sex is considered a
taboo subject, the lack of sex education taught to China’s adolescents by both,
families and educational institutions is noted to have been a leading cause for
the high rate of teenage pregnancies. However, recently there has been some opening
up of the topic with the distribution of textbooks on sex education in schools.
Moreover, in an attempt to protect the Chinese population
from the negative effects on the behaviour of individuals, leading to teenage
pregnancies, high fertility rates, abortions female infanticide and possibly
higher populations; brought about by the rampant violent and sexual ‘online’
games, the Chinese government has placed bans as well as have shut down online games with
these contents.
According to the program, “Confession of a Murderer-
Focus on Pornography and Violence in online games (part two)”, a fourteen year
old girl has admitted her crime in having sex with strange persons from an
online meeting and two abortions, all because of an online game, ‘Audition’,
which allegedly influenced her acts.
Furthermore, China’s communist government has made
the policing of the internet a priority. Unfortunately, in the city of Shanghai
the increase in teenage pregnancy has been blamed on the internet. However, due
to the increasing rate of teenage pregnancies there is now hotlines developed
all over China to assist pregnant teenage girls. According to Dr. Zhang
Zhengrong, who is in charge of a helpline in Shanghai for pregnant teenagers;
46% out of more than 20,000 teenage girls have said that they had sex with boys
they met on the internet. An astonishing 10% has had as many as three
abortions.
In addition, China’s increase in teenage
pregnancy can also be reflected in the statistics at the juvenile accidental
pregnancy aid center in Chongquing City. Since its establishment in 2003 the
center has accepted 30 to 40 cases every month and with the majority of the
girls being either sixteen or seventeen years old.
Moreover, some of the consequences of this
increasing rate of teenage pregnancy in China include abortions, increase in
Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), unwanted pregnancies and conflict between
government and online game developers. In 2002 1.493 million official cases of
abortion were performed with 0.4 million out of these cases being adolescents.
However, majority of teenage abortions go unnoticed
since according to Chinese law a girl under the age of nineteen must gain the
approval from a parent or guardian before undergoing an abortion. This has
caused many girls out of fear from parent’s reaction to go to back-street
abortionists or quacks, since in China teenage pregnancy is still considered
shameful. This can be dangerous and could have negative effects on the life of
the girl.
Furthermore, due to the increase in sexual
activity among China’s teenagers, China is in the early stage of a major
HIV/AIDS epidemic.
In recent
history, teenage pregnancy in Jamaica has been an important and very prevalent
issue and has been the focus of many programmes and discussions aimed at
effectively reducing and rectifying the problem.
There are
several reasons why a teen may become pregnant, apart from the universal
misconception of the girl being one who ‘sleeps around’. One reason for example
is the failure to correctly use a condom or the choice simply not to use one on
the male’s part, and to a lesser extent, on the female’s part. The
socio-economic situation of the Jamaican mother also often leads to ‘child
shifting’, where a child is sent to live with other family members or other
families, away from the mother. Studies have shown that 1 out of 5 Jamaican
children did not live with either their mother or father; very often the
shifted child will be placed in a negative environment.
Generally,
teenage pregnancy has dropped over time. Statistics from the 2008 Jamaica
Reproductive Health Survey (RHS) showed that births per 1,000 females between
the ages of 15 and 19 have decreased from 137 in 1975 to 72 in 2008; an almost
50% decline in just over three decades. Also, the age of loss of virginity for
girls has increased in the aforementioned age group, showing a longer abstinence
period. In addition, the girls’ awareness of contraceptives dramatically
increased from 1997 to 2008, while their usage of emergency contraceptive pills
(ECP’s) doubled from 2002 to 2008.
It can now
be said that based on these and other trends observed by the RHS, an increase
in knowledge and awareness has caused a change in positive behavior, which may
be a contributing factor to the decline of pregnancies in the 15-19 age
bracket. Along with this, the integration of the Health and Family Life
Education Curriculum (HFLE) into the education system has also helped to boost
awareness of this age group, most likely allowing the girls to make more
responsible decisions pertaining to their sexual and reproductive well-being.
Due to the
rising awareness and action based on this awareness, there has been a decrease
in the already low abortion rates in the country. However, it does still occur.
The current law on abortion in Jamaica is contained in the Offences against the
Person Act which makes the pregnant mother and any doctor or other person who
helps to procure the abortion liable to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment
if they unlawfully administer or use anything to procure a miscarriage.
The act
does not make exceptions in cases of rape, mental illness and when the
pregnancy threatens the mother’s health. In April and July, two doctors were
arrested for performing abortions on a 16 and a 12 year old girl respectively.
The former situation triggered a nationwide poll by the country’s leading
television station, asking the population if they believe abortion should be
legalized. Surprisingly, 63% disagreed.
Total
Fertility Rate is the number of children a woman is likely to have during her
fecund or productive years. The latest rate for Jamaica was 2.33 in 2010, as
compared to 2.55 in 2002. The Adolescent fertility rate, which is the births
per 1000 females aged 15-19, was recorded at 72.76 in 2010. This rate has quite
fallen when compared with the high figure of 92.61for 1998. Infertility in
layman’s terms is the state of being unable to produce offspring; in a woman it
is an inability to conceive; in a man it is an inability to impregnate. A
popular way in Jamaica to counter this is undergoing In Vitro Fertilization
(IVF) and Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), with its effect augmented by the
prior introduction of acupuncture.
In conclusion, both China and
Jamaica faced the pressures of a high fertility rate, abortions and even
teenage pregnancy, but unlike China, Jamaica now has these rates under control
with the aid of the laws and policies put in place to govern and control the
level of fertility within the country.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Waugh, David. Geography:
An Integrated Approach. 3rd Edition.
Guiness, Paul, and Garret Nargle. Advanced Geography: Concepts and Cases. Cambridge: Hart McLeod, 2009.
“China’s infertility rate on the rise,” last modified
October 14th, 2012.
“China’s fertility rates,” last modified September 28th,
2012.
“Jamaica’s fertility rates,” last modified September 28th,
2012.
