Illegal abortions on the rise in UAE
DUBAI - A growing number of women in the UAE, both single and married, are using cheap and illegal medication to abort unwanted pregnancies, local tabloid XPRESS reported on Thursday.
Purchasing a pill which induces Do It Yourself (DIY) abortions costs only Dhs 1,500 and is easily available in Bur Dubai, according to the report.
Self induced abortion is illegal in the Gulf state by law. But it has become common in the country as sexual promiscuity has increased, the report said.
Medical termination of pregnancies is allowed only when it can be proved that the continuation of pregnancy would be dangerous to the life of the mother or the child.
"Demand for the tablet has grown in recent years since social and moral values have changed over the years while the laws haven't," XPRESS quoted a Filipino expat who sells a course of five pills for Dhs 1,500 as saying.
The tabloid cites another seller who has listed her contact details in a chat forum with a message that her services are available exclusively for UAE.
The seller guarantees termination with a free medical procedure if the pill doesn't abort the foetus.
However, the seller doesn't mention about the methods used and the safety of the mother's life, the report said.
If women try to raise children outside the wedlock in the UAE, they will be jailed and then deported. So women are left with no choice but to resort to abortion. In some cases they manage to get married quickly or leave the country in fear of punishment.
According to statistics available with the police 154 children were dumped by parents in the UAE between 2004 and 2009. Three babies were abandoned in the last month alone, including a girl who was left on the stairs of a building, the report said.
I can't find it either...
If possible send me a link because I can't find the article.thaks
7 Days did a similar article to this about a month ago, after 2 abandoned babies were found.
Any reliable source regarding nationalities of these abortions
Yeah Pilgrim and most of this maids are locked up like birds in cages and they dont have any idea whats going on around them and in most case they cannot even avoid the abuses going on against them. If they try and run away then their employers come up with stories like they stole and ran away, etc.
What the Xpress didn't get into is the nationality of these abandoned babies. Many are Arab and Filipina, African, or Indian, and most are assumed to be the unwanted results of Emirati men and their maids. A lot of these girls are from little backwater villages and don't know very much about birth control, much less have the money to buya 70 AED pack of pills or condoms, and the men don't care (and probably don't know much about birth control either). I've had 18 year old Emirati girls tell me you CAN'T get pregnant unless you are married (as in physically can't, not shouldn't). So I don't doubt a lot of these abortions are Emirati girls who've gotten in trouble as well.
So am I xoxox
Terrible situation. @Cabbage Isn't birth control all over the place here?
Sorry.. i am against abortions unless neccessary for the health or safety of the mother - as considered by a doctor ..
It does smack of the bad old days - i.e. back street abortionists :-(
why not use protection ??? saves money as well as no harmsful side effects.
Perhaps the government should clamp down on the illegal abortion clinics and jail those responsible..
Perhaps contraception should be allowed - this may negate the need for abortions.
Some rules and laws call for some funny and innovative remedies. You could give it a try too if and when the need arises or if and when you find yourself in such a situation.
A lot fly to other countries. My colleague's wife was pregnant not long ago, and her physician was preparing some tests. The physician then leaned over to my colleague and told him not to worry, if there is anything wrong with the baby flying to another country to have the abortion is no big deal. My colleague and his wife are Western but Muslim of and Arab descent, so it wasn't as if the doctor thought he was helping out some "immoral" Westerner. He was shocked, as even Western doctors are not so casual about the whole thing.