Abortion stigma is widely acknowledged in many countries, but poorly theorised. Although media accounts often evoke abortion stigma as a universal social fact, we suggest that the social production of abortion stigma is profoundly local. Abortion stigma is neither natural nor 'essential' and relies upon power disparities and inequalities for its formation. In this paper, we identify social and ...

OBJECTIVES This article examines the effect of abortion legalization on fertility rates in the United States. METHODS Fertility rates were compared over time between states that varied in the timing of abortion legalization. RESULTS States legalizing abortion experienced a 4% decline in fertility relative to states where the legal status of abortion was unchanged. The relative reductions in...

J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2006: 32(4) Introduction Many groups seek a change in current UK abortion legislation. Such organisations consist of parliamentary groups, professional bodies, pro-choice and anti-abortion campaign groups and charitable service providers. Individuals have initiated court cases to achieve change. Abortion law in the UK is laid down in the Abortion Act 1967, as amen...

Unsafe abortion's significant contribution to maternal mortality and morbidity was a critical factor leading to liberalization of Nepal's restrictive abortion law in 2002. Careful, comprehensive planning among a range of multisectoral stakeholders, led by Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population, enabled the country subsequently to introduce and scale up safe abortion services in a remarkably ...

BACKGROUND Although sexual and reproductive health services have become more available in humanitarian settings over the last decade, safe abortion services are still rarely provided. The authors' observations suggest that four reasons are typically given for this gap: 'There's no need'; 'Abortion is too complicated to provide in crises'; 'Donors don't fund abortion services'; and 'Abortion is ...

CONTEXT The relationship between levels of contraceptive use and the incidence of induced abortion continues to provoke heated discussion, with some observers arguing that use of abortion decreases as contraceptive prevalence rises and others claiming that increased use of family planning methods causes abortion incidence to rise. METHODS Abortion trends are examined in countries with reliabl...

BACKGROUND Tanzania has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, and unsafe abortion is one of its leading causes. Yet little is known about its incidence. OBJECTIVES To provide the first ever estimates of the incidence of unsafe abortion in Tanzania, at the national level and for each of the 8 geopolitical zones (7 in Mainland plus Zanzibar). METHODS A nationally represen...

A review of the role of the federal government in abortion administration in view of prospective legalization of abortion. It is argued that abortion is a woman's right and should be considered purely a medical decision, but it is acknowledged that for political expediency, the majority of Congress is theoretically opposed to abortion. It is expected that this will change in the next 5 years....

This study examined the knowledge, attitude and practice of private medical practitioners in Calabar on abortion, post-abortion case and post-abortion family planning. Forty eight private practitioners who were proprietors of private clinics in the city were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The results showed that 22.9% of the doctors routinely terminate unwanted pregnancies when r...