ABORTION IN VIETNAM - MEASUREMENTS, PUZZLES, AND CONCERNS

This report summarizes current knowledge about abortion in Vietnam, dr awing upon government statistics, survey data, and fieldwork undertake n by the author in Vietnam throughout 1993 and part of 1994. The offic ial total abortion rate in Vietnam in 1992 was about 2.5 per woman, th e highest in Asia and worrisome for a country with a still-high total fertility rate of 3.7 children per woman. Vietnamese provinces exhibit ed substantial variation in both the rate of abortion and the type of procedures performed. Among the hypotheses explored to explain Vietnam 's high rate of abortion are the borrowing of family planning strategi es from other poor socialist states where abortion is common; current antinatal population policies that interact with a lack of contracepti ve alternatives; and a rise in pregnancies among young and unmarried w omen in the wake of recent free-market reforms. Because family-size pr eferences are still declining, abortion rates may continue to increase unless the incidence of unwanted pregnancy can be reduced, a goal tha t Vietnamese population specialists are seeking to achieve.