Seventeen years of legalized abortion in Singapore

"In this paper we first discuss the two-stage process of legalizing induced abortion in Singapore, the initial legalization to make it available on a restrictive basis in 1970 and the complete liberalization to make it available on demand from 1975 onwards. The incidence of abortions registered in the last seventeen years and the major characteristics of aborters are analysed. The impact of abortion on the rapid decline of fertility to below-replacement level is highlighted, and the need to reduce abortion by amending the more liberal aspects of the law are considered at the end of the paper."