Between "science" and "superstition": moral perceptions of induced abortion among young adults in Vietnam

Abstract

Despite the increasing use of reproductive technologies the world over, anthropological studies have paid remarkably limited attention to the ethical dilemmas involved in people's choices of such technologies. Against this background, the author analyzes moral perceptions of induced abortion among unmarried young adults in urban North Vietnam. While the ethical aspects of abortion are shrouded in silence in public life in Vietnam, the young people participating in the study expressed strong moral scepticism towards the practice of abortion, even while undergoing it themselves. Through the analysis of young people's experiences and perceptions, the paper demonstrates how moral ideas are tied to particular social situations and structured by larger socio-political circumstances. It is argued that moral notions which are dominant in a society's public sphere may not be representative of the moral sentiments that are lived in practice and felt in private.