Criminal abortion is one of the top five causes of maternal mortality
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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The tendency of the increase in the number of abortions conducted outside the clinics by unqualified persons is noted in the report of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is published in The Lancet, reports the BBC.
The WHO study presents data for 2008, inclusive. In particular, they indicate an increase in the number of clandestine abortions from 44 percent in 1995 to 49 percent in 2008. In the editorial comment of The Lancet, these figures are called alarming.
The total number of abortions in the world in 2008 compared to 2003 increased by two million 200 thousand.
In developing countries, especially where strict legislative restrictions on abortion have been adopted, most abortion operations are performed under inadequate conditions. In Africa, the number of such abortions is 97 percent of the total number of interrupted pregnancies.
In countries where abortion is prohibited by law, data are collected through a population survey and based on official hospital statistics on complications and deaths that have been associated with clandestine operations.
According to Beverly Winikoff of the New York-based Gynuity organization, whose actions are aimed at widespread legalization and ensuring greater safety of abortions, "criminal abortion is one of the top five causes of maternal mortality." According to her, in 2008, one of seven or eight cases of maternal death in the world was associated with a criminal abortion.
Sexologist Kate Hawkins of the British University of Sussex in connection with the publication of the WHO report notes: "legally or illegally, but if a woman seeks a way to have an abortion, she will find it." According to Hawkins, in 2008, 86 percent of abortions occurred in developing countries, and in the same year, about half of all abortion operations in the world were underground.
In developed countries, the proportion of interrupted pregnancies declined from 36 percent in 1995 to 26 percent in 2008.
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