Set minimum age for women seeking abortion

Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing told Parliament that there is no plan to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 (“Government has no plans to lower voting age to 18: Chan Chun Sing”; Aug 5).

He said that “a person’s rights and responsibilities gradually increase as one matures, until the common-law age of majority of 21 when a person comes of age to make decisions as an adult and engages in activities that involve significant personal responsibility”.

“Voting in elections involves making serious choices, which requires experience and maturity,” he added.

The Government’s approach to voting is at odds with its position on abortion.

Based on Singapore’s Termination of Pregnancy Act, there is no legal minimum age for those seeking an abortion. There is also no need for parental consent. 

It is inconsistent that, by law, a person below 21 years old cannot vote or consent to marry; a person under 19 cannot buy cigarettes; an under-18 cannot consume alcohol; and a person younger than 16 cannot consent to sex. But a person, regardless of age, may seek an abortion.

The youngest girl to have had an abortion in Singapore was 13 years old, but she was not legally allowed to do any of the above.

If a person below certain ages is not considered mature enough to make informed decisions to vote, marry, buy cigarettes and alcohol, or have sex, does it not logically follow that there should be a minimum legal age for abortion?

It is, after all, a choice that has significant consequences for the person seeking it and those around her.

Regardless of where one stands on the issue, abortion is a serious choice involving significant responsibility, experience and maturity. Should one's rights and responsibilities in this area not be consistent with the legal age of maturity?  

There is a need for the Government to review the Termination of Pregnancy Act.

I urge it to be consistent in taking a thoughtful and measured approach to protecting under-21s from all life-altering activities — including abortion — on which they may not be able to make informed and mature decisions.

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