By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Many pregnant women make the hasty decision to have an abortion because of medication they were taking when they became pregnant.

The practice is often based on unfounded fears that the medicine could lead to fetal deformities, says Dr. Kim Tae-yoon, head of the gynecological department of Miz Medi Hospital.

"Though doctors assure them that most of the drugs are okay and recommend them to keep the baby, they just ask for the procedure," he said.

Kim's remarks came in response to the Korea Food and Drug Administration's report that about 96,000 women, 10 percent of pregnant women, were having abortions for drug-related reasons each year.

These women say they were unaware of their pregnancy when they were medicated and want to err on the side of caution by having the procedure.

Most had taken weight-loss pills, painkillers, antibiotics, cough drops and anti-histamines.

Rep. Shim Jae-chul of the governing Grand National Party, however, claimed that 70 percent of the drugs they were taking were actually irrelevant to the health of a fetus and that the abortions were unnecessary. Most did not affect the central nervous and endocrine systems, or cardio-related areas, Shim claimed.

"Had the expectant mothers been given enough direction about what they can take and what they can't, they would have had healthy babies," he said. "At a time when the country is suffering from a low birthrate, providing them with correct information is necessary," he added.

Shim asked the government to hold a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about the facts among women and doctors, pointing out that, in some cases, doctors are not fully informed of the drugs that can affect fetuses.

Abortions are a serious social issue, with the number of procedures reaching 339,818 in 2005. Professor Kim Hae-jung of Korea University said that one out of every five fetuses conceived in Korea is aborted. This rate is nine times that of the United States and 2.5 times that of Japan.

But Kim assumed that the actual number, if those seeking the procedure illegally were included, would be much higher than the reported one.

"This actual number would make Korea the No. 1 abortion country in the world," he said.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr