Legal status doesn't affect abortion rates
By MARIA CHENG
The Associated Press
LONDON — Women are just as likely to get an abortion in countries where it is outlawed as they are in countries where it is legal, according to research published today.
In a study examining abortion trends from 1995 to 2003, researchers also found that abortion rates are virtually equal in rich and poor countries, and that about half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe.
The study was done by Gilda Sedgh, of the Guttmacher Institute in the United States, and colleagues from the World Health Organization. It was published in an edition of The Lancet medical journal devoted to maternal health.
"The legal status of abortion has never dissuaded women and couples, who, for whatever reason, seek to end pregnancy," Beth Fredrick, of the International Women's Health Coalition in the United States, said in an accompanying commentary.
Abortion accounts for 13 percent of maternal mortality worldwide. About 70,000 women die every year from unsafe abortions. An additional 5 million women suffer permanent or temporary injury.
"The continuing high incidence of unsafe abortion in developing countries represents a public-health crisis and a human rights atrocity," Fredrick wrote.
The number of worldwide abortions has dipped from about 46 million in 1995 to just under 42 million in 2003. But there was no change in the rate of unsafe abortions; nearly half the procedures are still performed illegally in potentially dangerous conditions.
"The only way to decrease unsafe abortion is to increase contraception," said Sharon Camp, president and chief executive officer of the Guttmacher Institute.
Camp said more countries are allowing women to have abortions legally, but many women only receive medical attention after a procedure has gone wrong. "I don't think women should have to hurt themselves before they get medical treatment," she said.
The majority of abortions — 35 million — were in the developing world. And nearly 97 percent of all unsafe abortions were in poor countries. Worldwide, one in five pregnancies ends in abortion.
The study defined unsafe abortions as those performed either by people lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimum medical standards.
On the whole, the abortion rate decreased more in developed countries, where abortion is generally safe and legal, than in developing countries, where the procedure is largely illegal and unsafe, the study found.
In Eastern Europe, there are more abortions than live births: 105 abortions for every 100 live births, the research found. In Western Europe, there are 23 abortions for every 100 live births.
Improving women's health, experts said, means improving access to safe abortions.
Some experts criticized the restrictions that often come with donor money. Funds from the U.S. government, for example, cannot be used in any health services associated with abortion.
In related papers in The Lancet this week, researchers said there has been little improvement in helping women survive pregnancy and childbirth in the past two decades, particularly in the world's poorest countries.
Unlike improving child health, which can be done relatively easily by things such as immunizing children against various diseases, "you can't give women a pill for obstetric complications," said Ann Starrs, executive vice president for Family Care International in the United States, who was not linked to the study.
Material from the Guttmacher Institute is included in this report.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
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