The central Philippine region of Visayas has seen abortion cases increasing over the past decade, as at least 17 out of 1,000 women there have gone through abortion operations, reported the official Philippine News Agency Monday.
In 1994, an average of 11 cases per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49 went through abortion in the region, while the number has increased to at least 17 now, said the report, which is based on research papers by the U.S.-based sexually-related health research institute, Alan Guttmacher Institute.
Visayas is one of the three main regions which make up the Philippine islands, with the other two being Luzon and Mindanao.
The Guttmacher study, which was focused on Visayas, showed that unintended pregnancy is the main cause of abortion, which has become a common option despite it's illegality under the law in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation, said the report.
The Guttmacher report also found that nearly half of all pregnancies or 1.43 million of about 3.1 million pregnancies in the whole country are unintended, one-third of which are ended through abortion.
"In the Visayas, 44 percent of all pregnancies are unintended," the Guttmacher report said, adding that more than 9,000 women in the Visayas are hospitalized annually due to complications arising from induced abortions.
Source: Xinhua
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