Beijing sets up rescue center for pregnant girls
( 2003-12-03 11:28) (Xinhua)
Pregnant girls can now obtain
legal abortions anonymously in the Maternal and Child Care Service Center of
southern Xuanwu District in the national capital of Beijing.
The service center was set up to take care of the reproductive health of
youngsters, and doctors will not only carry out operations, but also provide
information on methods of contraception and sexual health.
Before the center was set up, doctors tried to give lectures on conception
control in some high schools and publicized their hot- line number.
The action, nevertheless, aroused consternation and worries among quite a few
parents and some argued that the lectures would stain their children's
innocence.
But youngsters knew much more about sex than just the basic biology, and
parents should not try o shun reality, said Zong Chunshan, director of the
Beijing Legal and Psychological Consulting Center for Minors, on Wednesday.
The growing numbers of adolescent pregnancies is becoming a global problem.
Approximately 14 million adolescent girls get pregnant accidentally worldwide
each year, and more than 4.4 million choose abortion.
China is faced with problems menacing the reproductive health of young people
including the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and AIDS, and
increasing numbers of unwanted adolescent pregnancies.
China set up its first rescue center for pregnant girls in February in
Chongqing Municipality in the southwest, and similar centers have been
established in the cities of Hangzhou and Jinan in its coastal eastern area,
Chengdu, the capital of southwestern Sichuan province, and Harbin, the capital
of the country's northernmost province.
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