WA girls as young as 12 having abortion

Forty-four WA girls, some as young as 12, had an abortion last year, the state's health department reported on Sunday.

The figure, which is an all-time high, alarmed the Abortion Grief Australia (AGA), which urged the state's government to launch a TV advertising campaign against teenage pregnancy.

Edith Cowan University psychology lecturer Bronwyn Harman attributed the rising number of young girls having an abortion to the increasing cases of young girls dating older boys or men and being pressured into having sex with them.

Harman, who is conducting a research on teenage motherhood, also attributed the problem to the premature sexualisation of girls by the media.

AGA state director Julie Cook said the problem brings another problem. The young abortionists are likely to repeat the termination of pregnancy later in life and become drug and alcohol addicts.

Meanwhile, opposition child protection spokeswoman Sue Ellery called on the government to improve and make more effective the education of children about sexual relationships and about contraception.