Illegal abortions on the rise in the UAE

Growing number of women – both single and married – are turning to unauthorised medication to abort their unwanted pregnancies.

Cases of self-induced abortion, which is illegal in the UAE by law, have become common in the country as sexual promiscuity also increases.

Dubai-based tabloid XPRESS reported that the abortion inducing pills are easily available in the market and don’t cost more than a few hundred dirhams.

Though there are serious risks to the women’s health as well as chances of incomplete abortion, sellers of the drugs claim that the demand is greater than ever and the pills work most often than not.

A much talked about topic on the internet chat site and social network, a short visit to the sites would give one a clear idea about the spine-chilling racket.

The network would also lead one to the sellers of the killer drugs, who sell it rather openly for anywhere between Dh1,500 to Dh150 with varying dosage recommendations.

"Demand for the tablet has grown in recent years since social and moral values have changed over the years while the laws haven't," says JC, a Filipino seller who charges Dh1,500 for a course of five pills.

Blaming the law for the phenomenon many feel that women have little choice as having a child outside wedlock results in a jail term followed by deportation.

When a single woman gets pregnant she has two options: Get married quickly or leave the country.

When neither of this happens, some women abandon their newborns. Police statistics show that 154 children were dumped by parents in the UAE between 2004 and 2009. Three babies were abandoned in the last month alone, including a girl who was left on the stairs of a building in the upscale The Gardens area.

Shocking, but nothing compared to last year's horrific incident where a mother delivered a baby at a Dubai airport toilet but reportedly strangled the infant and dumped it near a rubbish bin before catching a flight.

Regardless of the risks involved, many single women who get pregnant consider abortion as an easy route. Not surprisingly, online chat forums are flooded with queries for the abortion pill. Dealers cashing in on the demand list their e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers.