Catholic World News News Feature

Japan Abortion Rate For Girls Almost Doubles In Six Years August 08, 2002

TOKYO, AUG 8, 02 (CWNews.com) - The abortion rate for minor girls in Japan reached a record high last year, the sixth straight year it has done so according to a health ministry report on Thursday. About 46,500 abortions were performed in the Asian nation on girls 19 and under.

Overall there were 341,588 abortions in the country which has a total population of 64.6 million women. The number of abortion for girls 19 and under was 46,571, almost twice what it was in 1995, when 26,117 abortions were performed on girls in that age group.

As for the age brackets of 20-24 and 25-29, the number came to 82,540 and 72,621, respectively, almost unchanged from the previous year, the survey said. For those in the age group of 30-34, the number stood at 63,153, up 1,317 from the previous year, while it marked year-on-year declines in groups above 34 years old, it said.