Some 13 million abortions are carried out in China each year, in part because there is little education about contraception or disease for the rising numbers of young people who are having sex, state media said

“Sex is no longer considered taboo among young people today, and they believe they can learn everything they need from the Internet. But it doesn’t mean they have developed a proper understanding or attitude toward it,” the paper quoted hospital gynecologist Yu Dongyan saying.

Until the 1990s, doctors asked for women’s marital status at abortion clinics, which were part of the family planning system that limited urban couples to one child.

Now, government data shows that nearly two thirds of women who have abortions are between 20 and 29, and most are single, the paper said.

Birth control information is mainly given to young couples.

Some single women may also be driven to seek abortions because under current laws unmarried mothers cannot get a “hukou” or household registration card for their child.

Without one it is extremely hard for Chinese citizens to get access to education, healthcare and other public services. China also sells about 10 million abortion pills a year, and there are many other abortions performed in unregistered clinics, the paper quoted Wu Shangchun, a division director at the National Population and Family Planning Commission, as saying.