The clandestine epidemic: the practice of unsafe abortion in Latin America.

Full Abstract

In Latin America, induced abortion is the fourth most commonly used method of fertility regulation. Estimates of the number of induced abortions performed each year in Latin America range from 2.7 to 7.4 million, or from 10 to 27 percent of all abortions performed in the developing world. Because of restrictive laws, nearly all of these abortions, except for those performed in Barbados, Belize, and Cuba, are clandestine and unsafe, and their sequelae are the principal cause of death among women of reproductive age. One of every three to five unsafe abortions leads to hospitalization, resulting in inordinate consumption of scarce and costly health-system resources. Increased contraceptive prevalence and restrictive abortion laws have not decreased clandestine practices. This article addresses how the epidemic of unsafe abortion might be challenged. Recommendations include providing safer outpatient treatment and strengthening family planning programs to improve women's contraceptive use and their access to information and to safe pregnancy termination procedures. In addition, existing laws and policies governing legal abortion can be applied to their fullest extent, indications for legal abortion can be more broadly interpreted, and legal constraints on abortion practices can be officially relaxed.

Author information

Author/s: Paxman, J M (JM); Rizo, A (A); Brown, L (L); Benson, J (J);

Affiliation: Boston University School of Public Health, MA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Studies in family planning (Stud Fam Plann), published in UNITED STATES. (Language: eng)

Reference: -1993 Jul-Aug; vol 24 (issue 4) : pp 205-26

Dates: Created 1993/11/16; Completed 1993/11/16; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 8212091, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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