Vietnam, with one of the highest abortion rates, leads UN initiative on premature births

CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Vietnam, a country with one of the highest abortion rates in the world, spearheaded a United Nations initiative this week on the health care needs of infants born prematurely.

While the event in honor of World Prematurity Day aimed to spotlight the need for better care for preterm infants, a bioethicist is pointing to the irony of a country grappling with widespread abortion leading the charge.

“It’s a completely mixed message,” Joseph Meaney, a senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told “EWTN News Nightly” on Tuesday.

Advances in neonatal intensive care have made possible the survival of smaller and younger infants. The world’s most premature surviving baby is Curtis Zy-Keith Means, who was born at 21 weeks and one day in Birmingham, Alabama.

Vietnam’s laws allow unrestricted abortion procedures up to the 22nd week of pregnancy, but enforcement against later-term abortions remains lax.

A 2023 report identified the Southeast Asian nation as having the second-highest abortion rate in the world. Hanoi’s Central Obstetrics Hospital reported in 2014 that 40% of all pregnancies in Vietnam were terminated each year.

Meaney pointed out to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol that “in one part of the hospital, they are delivering babies … and trying to keep them alive in the neonatal intensive care units, and in other parts of the hospital, they’re killing those same babies at the same age of gestation.”

Meaney noted that studies have found that women who have undergone multiple abortions face a higher risk of premature birth and miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies.

World Prematurity Day was established in 2008 to raise awareness about the challenges of premature births, which is the leading cause of death for children under 5. It is estimated that 13.4 million babies are born prematurely every year, according to UNICEF, which called for universal access to high-quality care for preterm babies in honor of the day.

“Of course, if they’re concerned about infant mortality, the highest rate of infant mortality is killing babies through abortion,” Meaney said.

Catholics in Vietnam help manage special cemeteries for victims of abortion, including one in the Archdiocese of Hanoi in which 46,000 unborn children are buried and another in Xuan Loc Diocese where more than 53,000 are buried, according to La Croix International.

A Catholic charity called the Life Protection Group collects the remains of unborn children from state-run hospitals and private clinics, noting that the group used to gather 25-40 aborted fetuses each day to bury.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 1.6 million abortions were performed in Vietnam between 2015 and 2019.

Asked by Sabol how premature births might be reduced in the U.S. and around the world, Meaney said: “One thing would be to have fewer abortions.”

As well, “actually having the hospitals help the mothers to continue their pregnancies” would help, he said.

“When they’re at risk of premature birth, the amount of days involved is very important. Just a few more days can really increase the likelihood the child will survive,” Meaney said.

“To actually have the hospitals willing to admit mothers who are in danger of premature birth” could help lower such incidences, he said.