Criminalising abortion does not cut number of terminations, says study
Criminalising abortion does not cut number of terminations, says study
One in four pregnancies are terminated, with rates falling in developed countries but staying steady in developing nations
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A woman adds a clothes hanger, symbolising an illegal abortion, to a tree branch in front of Poland’s parliament after a march in April opposing a possible tightening of abortion laws.
One in four pregnancies ends in abortion worldwide - about 56m a year - according to new global data which shows that criminalising abortion does not make it any less frequent.
New figures from the US-based Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organisation (WHO) show the abortion rate in developed countries has declined significantly over the past couple of decades but has remained steady in developing countries, reflecting an unmet need for contraception.
“In developed countries, the continued fall in abortion rates is largely due to increased use of modern contraception that has given women greater control over the timing and number of children they want,” said Dr Gilda Sedgh from the institute’s New York office.
“In developing countries, however, family planning services do not seem to be keeping up with the increasing desire for smaller families. “More than 80% of unintended pregnancies are experienced by women with an unmet need for modern methods of contraception, and many unwanted pregnancies end in abortion.”
The paper published in the Lancet medical journal shows the annual number of abortions dropped from about 12m a year in 1990-94 to 7m in 2010-14 in developed countries. In the developing world, the numbers rose from 39m to 50m a year in the same time period.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/11/criminalising-abortion-does-not-cut
