Vietnamese Catholics widen support for pregnant mothers

Catholics in Vietnam are responding to the country's abortion crisis by providing support and resources to give women the opportunity to choose life.

Key Takeaways:

• Approximately 300,000 abortions are committed each year in Vietnam.

• In some regions, hospital staffers say they receive requests for abortions daily, often from students or unmarried young women who feel they have no choice but to abort.

• Vietnamese Catholics have begun launching pro-life initiatives to help prevent these abortions from taking place.

The Details:

Vietnamese Catholics are establishing Church-run pro‑life initiatives in various communities to reach women undergoing crises during pregnancy, provide compassionate accompaniment, and attempt to decrease the high abortion rates in the country, as well as infant abandonment. 

Father Joseph Tran Van Bong highlighted the importance of how “a word of sympathy, a hand of support can save a life” while conducting a training session on how to support vulnerable pregnant women. The training session, conducted at An Nhien Parish under the Life Protection Subcommittee of Caritas Ha Tinh, is part of increasing Catholic efforts to address what many have depicted as a “mass abortion” problem in Vietnam. 

Based on figures from Vietnam’s Department of Family Planning, almost 300,000 abortions are committed in the country each year, primarily among young women aged 15–19, with almost 80% of abortions taking place after 12 weeks of pregnancy. 

About 44% of young people in Vietnam engage in premarital sex, leading to a large number of pregnancies out of wedlock. According to a poll at Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy, among students who cohabit, only 48% use contraception, and 64% who become pregnant seek abortion — typically after getting ditched by their boyfriends — while 36% of pregnant women marry and carry their preborn babies to term. 

Zoom In:

The abortion crisis is especially significant in places such as Binh Duong province in southern Vietnam, where around 700,000 workers — more than 70% of them migrants — work in factories and export-processing zones away from their families. Notably, hospitals and maternity homes in such areas have testified to numerous unmarried workers and students seeking abortions almost daily, and they see abandoned newborns every week, with the number of abandoned babies estimated to have increased by 20–30% yearly. 

Behind these statistics are real-life stories of deep social isolation, embarrassment, and pressure to abort. One young woman, identified as Ms. K.T., a marketing student in Ho Chi Minh City, explained:

The man who I loved with all my heart abandoned me and his own [preborn] child. Such a wound of betrayal in my heart made me return home from Hochiminh City in hope of being accepted by my parents. But my parents could not accept this fact and forced me to abort the baby to start a new life since my family were afraid of ridicule from the neighbors. My heart was filled up with sadness in the feeling of being abandoned from my sweetheart and being turned away by my family, I almost lost my will to live. However, I loved the innocent [preborn] child in my womb, I could not accept that the mistakes made by adults could take away the right to live from the growing pregnancy. Finally, I made my mind to return to Saigon with pregnancy and give birth by myself.

To prevent abortions and to address the needs of vulnerable pregnant women, social media posts have circulated, advertising “[t]emporary shelters for destitute women in pregnancy” or “[f]ree rooms for alone pregnant women,” followed by addresses of Catholic-run homes such as Jesus Cozy Home, Faith Family, Gerardo Charity House, Mai Linh Cozy Homes of the Vinh Son Daughters of Charity, and Mai Tam Cozy Homes of the Order of St. Camillus. While many vulnerable pregnant mothers arrive at these locations filled with loneliness and disappointment, they regain psychological stability, learn practical skills, and are instructed in caring for their health and their baby's until their safe deliveries. 

The Bottom Line:

These homes that address the needs of pregnant mothers in difficult situations, as well as babies after childbirth, have been around for years. These ministries show how the Catholic Church’s defense of life extends to long-term care for families and children.

Moreover, this case study in Vietnam provides a potent example of how a culture of life can be constructed not only via policymaking and high-profile advocacy, but through small, yet consistent acts of mercy: providing counseling services and opening a spare room to a vulnerable pregnant mother shunned by family and friends. In a country where hundreds of thousands of preborn lives are at risk each year, every “word of sympathy” and every “hand of support” truly can save a life — and can quietly reshape the future of families, parishes, and the country of Vietnam as a whole.