Unofficial sources report of the death of Iranian girls under the age of 15 as a result of illegal abortion. The statistics show that out of every 10 under 16 year old girls who seek an abortion, one loses her life. Moreover certain Internet sites report of an average of 15 fetuses being discovered per day in Tehrans garbage.

Iranian sociologist, Dr. Majid Abhari in an interview with the Iranian news agency of Sina said: The rules in Iran permit abortion only when the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother and this needs to be approved by the Organization of Legal Medicine. He reiterated that most of the abortions in Iran are carried out in underground and illegal places which are not in the least in accordance with medical standards. On the relation between the mothers death toll and their age, Dr. Abhari noted: Most of the mothers who die are between 16-30.People seek abortion after an unwanted or illegal sexual relationship. These people usually have no way but to pay colossal sums of money and in search of this much money they may create other problems for themselves. The death of a woman in Tehran led the Police to an underground center which was run by two women and a number of men. In only a 4 month period the center had carried out more than 70 illegal surgical operations. Annually 50 mln abortion cases are reported in the world out of which 30 mln are illegal.

Iranian lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi believes that as far as Iran is concerned most abortions result from illegitimate sexual relations which in turn are often caused by poverty adding: Social problems are linked to each other. Unemployment, poverty and addiction all lead to social problems. As long as there is addiction and poverty in society, these problems will persist. It is the officials who have to take steps to solve the crisis.

Referring to Article 3 of the Iranian constitution, the Iranian lawyer added: Article 3 of the constitution sets certain obligations for the government including paving the way for the development of moral values and fighting moral decadence. Although certain measures have been taken to this end, yet they have been insufficient. Pointing to the basic rights of every citizen, Khorramshahi stated: The way is paved for the establishment of a healthy society only when all citizens are aware of their legitimate rights including employment, education and housing. If people are provided with their basic needs, then society will not tend to disorder.

Noting that both Iranian culture and the Islamic religion frown on abortion, Khorramshahi underlined: I dont want to say that so far no step has been taken to deal with the issue, but if these measures were enough, why do we witness such problems in Iranian society today.

Abortion seems to be another social taboo in Iranian society which needs to be removed. However due to the restrictions imposed by religion, even the few campaigns launched to change the abortion regulations have led to nowhere.

The change of abortion regulations in Iran will require a fundamental shift in the attitude of Iranian families and religious authorities. Until then, young girls will continue to die needlessly.