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The right to life is unquestionably one of the biggest human rights debates in the United States. Some argue there is never an acceptable reason for the termination of a pregnancy, others will allow it in the case of a medical emergency or to save the life of the mother, some are for the use of only early term abortion, others argue that it is simply the mother’s choice. The recent March for Life in DC this month is only one manifestation of this debate, which has been a major battle amongst individuals and parties since the historic Roe vs. Wade decision. However, the U.S. is not the only country where the issue of abortion is controversial.
Many developing countries are losing the battle against harmful and illegal abortion practices that significantly impact female health and family planning. The practice of unsafe abortions is one of the leading contributors to maternal death worldwide. These practices are often conducted outside hospitals or clinics, or lack qualified or any real medical supervision. Women who undergo unsafe abortions are prone to dangerous infection or bleeding, many of these women then go untreated due to both fear or shame and a lack of access to adequate healthcare.
Recently, a new study entitled, Induced abortion: incidence and trends worldwide from 1995 to 2000, was released by the New York Guttmacher Institute. The study found that the number of women having induced abortions has remained high since their 2003 report, which had shown an initial reduction in induced abortions. The report stated that while abortion rates had fallen from 1995 levels, they have now leveled off. The rise in world population is only a partial explanation for 2.2 million more abortions in 2008 compared to 2003.
“The declining abortion trend we had seen globally has stalled, and we are also seeing a growing proportion of abortions occurring in developing countries, where the procedure is often clandestine and unsafe. This is cause for concern,” says Gilda Sedgh , lead author of the study and a senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute. “This plateau coincides with a slowdown in contraceptive uptake. Without greater investment in quality family planning services, we can expect this trend to persist.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), complications from unsafe or illegal abortions were the cause for an estimated 13% of all maternal deaths worldwide in 2008; almost all of these deaths occurred in developing countries. Globally, unsafe abortion accounted for 220 deaths per 100,000 procedures in 2008, 350 times the rate associated with legal induced abortions in the United States (0.6 per 100,000). Unsafe abortion is also a significant cause of ill-health. Each year approximately 8.5 million women in developing countries experience abortion complications serious enough to require medical attention, and three million of them do not receive the needed care.
The study also found that that laws restricting abortion were not not tied to lower abortion rates. In areas where abortion is heavily restricted, rates of the practice were actually higher. The 2008 abortion rate in Africa was 29 per 1,000 women of childbearing age and in South America it was 32 per 1,000; while in Western Europe, where abortion is permitted by law, the rate was only 12 per 1,000.
“These latest figures are deeply disturbing. The progress made in the 1990s is now in reverse. Promoting and implementing policies to reduce the number of abortions is now an urgent priority for all countries and for global health agencies, such as WHO,” says Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet. “Condemning, stigmatizing, and criminalizing abortion are cruel and failed strategies. It’s time for a public health approach that emphasizes reducing harm – and that means more liberal abortion laws.”
The difference in rates has prompted many in the field to advocate for looser abortion laws on a global scale. However, others argue that better family planning programs, including education and increased access to birth-control, are they key to the problem. As noted in the post, Leaders meet to put family planning on the global agenda, their are 215 million women worldwide without access to family planning, a staggering number that will only increase as the global population continues to rise. Therefore, the issue of female health and family planning must become an international priority if there is to be a decline in maternal deaths.
