An estimated 19 million unsafe abortions occur worldwide each year, resulting in the deaths of about 70,000 women. Legalization of abortion is a necessary but insufficient step toward improving women's health. Without skilled providers, adequate facilities and easy access, the promise of safe, legal abortion will remain unfulfilled, as in India and Zambia. Both suction curettage and pharmacolog...

CONTEXT Following a long-term decline, abortion incidence stabilized between 2005 and 2008. Given the proliferation of state-level abortion restrictions, it is critical to assess abortion incidence and access to services since that time. METHODS In 2012-2013, all facilities known or expected to have provided abortion services in 2010 and 2011 were surveyed. Data on the number of abortions wer...

BACKGROUND Abortion was legalized in Nepal in 2002, following advocacy efforts highlighting high maternal mortality from unsafe abortion. We sought to assess whether legalization led to reductions in the most serious maternal health consequences of unsafe abortion. METHODS We conducted retrospective medical chart review of all gynecological cases presenting at four large public referral hospi...

BACKGROUND Improving access to safe abortion is an essential strategy in the provision of universal access to reproductive health care. Australians are largely supportive of the provision of abortion and its decriminalization. However, the lack of data and the complex legal and service delivery situation impacts upon access for women seeking an early termination of pregnancy. There are no syste...

A prospective randomized, placebo-controlled trial comparing mifepristone and vaginal misoprostol to vaginal misoprostol alone for elective termination of early pregnancy. Author: Dr Roopa Malik, Assistant Professor, Obstetrics and gynaecology department Pt BDS PGIMS Rohtak. Background: Vaginal misoprostol has been shown to be an effective single agent for medical agent for medical abortion. Th...

Side effects are an expected part of medical abortion; some, such as pain and bleeding, result from the abortion process itself and are generally managed with orally administered analgesics and counseling. True medication side effects most commonly include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and warmth or chills. Complications of medical abortion usually represent an extreme or severe side effect. Larg...

2010 has been an interesting year for abortion provision. Early abortion, in the first trimester of pregnancy, is becoming increasingly acceptable and accessible, as reflected by liberalising laws and practice throughout the world. In Spain, much discussion has followed the implementation of a new law allowing abortion without restriction in the first 14 weeks. As Stanley Henshaw of the US Gutt...