High Cuban Abortion Rate Reported

El Nuevo Herald reported on 6 July 1995 that according to data presented in a study of various birth control methods it is almost a miracle to be born in Cuba. Despite official government propaganda extolling gains in the public health arena, Cuba is now the nation with the most abortions in the hemisphere, the report shows.

“Of all the pregnancies which were registered in Cuba in 1994, 60.2 percent were ended by therapeutic abortions.” Dr. Miriam Gran wrote in the report, which was authorized by the Cuban government and later made public.

According to William Mosher, spokesperson for the National Center of Health Statistics located in Washington D.C., approximately 20% of American women had abortions in1994. By contrast, notes Dr. Mario Gomez of the Institute of Gynecology in Havana, the number of induced abortions in Cuba is the highest in the hemisphere and is one of the highest in the world.

“This means that six out of ten pregnancies end in abortion,” says Gomez. “If you add others which are ended by different causes we must conclude that it is a miracle to be born in Cuba. Only two out of ten pregnancies end in the birth of a new life. Something striking.”

“The percentage of abortions in 1993 was 56.6 percent, while in 1994 the figure registered a 4 percentage point increase making it 60.3 percent,” says the report. The study affirms that women between 16 and 26 years old are the ones who most frequently resort to abortion. “In this age for every pregnancy that is carried to term, five are ended by abortion.” states Gran’s report. Gran’s study does not deal with what gynecologist Gomez considers one of the biggest actual problems in Cuba’s medical field; illegal abortion. “There are so many abortions and the medical resources in Cuba are so limited, that illegal abortions are rampant,” says Gomez. “There are doctors that perform abortions in makeshift clinics and always collect [their fees] in dollars.”

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