Young Norwegian women opt for abortion
Pastor Dale Morgan
Young Norwegian women opt for abortion*
More than half of ethnic Norwegian women under age 25 choose abortion if
they get pregnant, according to a new study. The professor behind the
study calls the statistic "surprising" and "worrisome."
This group of student advocates understands why young women often opt
for abortion if they get pregnant.
A woman's right to choose abortion is deeply engrained in Norwegian
society, but it's only most common among young women and women with
little education, says Professor Anne Eskild of Akershus University
Hospital.
Eskild's study marked the first time that researchers tracked the
incidence of abortions and births among ethnic Norwegian women. Results
showed major differences between those who chose to abort and those who
chose to give birth.
More than half of pregnant women under 25 chose abortion, a rate double
that for pregnant women over 40. The abortion rate for women under age
20 was nine times higher than that for women over 40.
Only 2.9 percent of women with a university education chose abortion,
according to the study.
"It's very surprising that it's more common for women under 25 to have
an abortion than it is to carry out their pregnancy," Eskild told
newspaper Aftenposten. She was responsible for the study that been
published in the medical journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica
Scandinavica.
She questioned whether Norway's generous maternity benefits may in fact
be to blame, since the benefits are based on a woman's income at the
time she gives birth. Many women under age 25 are still students, and
don't qualify for the benefits available later in life.
Others cite economic concerns, dreams for the future, career and
self-realization as reasons why young women opt against having children.