China staggers under abortion numbers

Rate about five times that of the U.S.

A young Chinese mother looks up at the ceiling in the maternity ward of Guangzhou's Taihe Hospital. James Pomfret / Reuters.

China's National Health and Family Planning Commission has new data indicating 13 million surgical abortions occur in the country every year. The number does not include medically induced abortions or procedures conducted in unlicensed clinics.

While the one-child policy continues to be part of the reason for the high number, some critics claim it is due to lack of contraceptive education.

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