MIRI: The number of unwed mothers here is on the decline, a fact acknowledged by the Human Life Service (HLS) Centre based on its reports.
According to the centre’s spokesperson Dorothy Kuek, they received an average of eight enquiries seeking help and counselling a year from unwed mothers for the past three years, compared to about 15 or more a year prior to that.
“To us, it may seem that the number of unwed mothers is on the decrease and that should be good,” she told The Borneo Post when contacted on the issue yesterday.
On the reason for the decline, Kuek opined that it might mean that women could be resorting to over-the-counter prescriptions of the ‘Morning After Pill’ and other contraceptive methods.
“Or they simply resort to abortion,” she said.
To a question, Kuek said the ‘Morning After Pill’ and other so-called contraceptive methods were abortifacient in nature, meaning unwed mothers could abort the newly-conceived babies in their wombs.
Whether it could help solve the problem of abortion when women and men use contraceptives, Kuek replied: “No, the problem of contraception, teen pregnancy and abortion is larger than we think.”
In this context, she advised youngsters to value their bodies and protect their virginity.
“The most beautiful gift a man can give a woman in marriage is his virginity, and the same can be said for a woman,” asserted Kuek who also attends to counselling-related matters.
Meanwhile, the Human Life Service promotes the building of the culture of life through its ‘I Am A Gift’ programme.
This programme, designed for primary, secondary and tertiary students, aimed at instilling in them the message that they are gifts to be loved and to love.
Kuek said they had just concluded a similar programme in Mandarin in Marudi, and another one in Permyjaya here over the weekend.
Apart from Miri, the event had been conducted in schools in Limbang, Sibu and Kuching.