Safer options for unwanted pregnancies

WE refer to Dr Nazeli Hamzah’s reminder on the worrying incidence of baby dumping and its causes, “Abandoned babies” (Sunday Star, June 28). This issue should be given urgent attention in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.The movement control order restrictions in Malaysia have resulted in an increasing number of unwanted pregnancies, as shown by the number of callers to the RRAAM’s (Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance Malaysia) abortion hotline for women.

Our normal calls average over 300 per month, but in May there was an almost 20% increase in callers. There was also an almost 10-fold increase in the number of callers with late pregnancies (over 20 weeks). Sadly, these may well have been planned pregnancies, but the impact of job losses and long-term economic uncertainty caused by Covid-19 may have forced them to consider such desperate measures.