PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S K Henshaw

Publications and source records attributed to S K Henshaw.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

The incidence of abortion worldwide.

CONTEXT: Accurate measurement of induced abortion levels has proven difficult in many parts of the world. Health care workers and policymakers need information on the incidence of both legal and illegal induced abortion to provide the needed services and to reduce the negative impact of unsafe abortion on women's health. METHODS: Numbers and rates of induced abortions were estimated from four sources: official statistics or other national data on legal abortions in 57 countries; estimates based on population surveys for two countries without official statistics; special studies for 10 countries where abortion is highly restricted; and worldwide and regional estimates of unsafe abortion from the World Health Organization. RESULTS: Approximately 26 million legal and 20 million illegal abortions were performed worldwide in 1995, resulting in a worldwide abortion rate of 35 per 1,000 women aged 15-44. Among the subregions of the world, Eastern Europe had the highest abortion rate (90 per 1,000) and Western Europe to the lowest rate (11 per 1,000). Among countries where abortion is legal without restriction as to reason, the highest abortion rate, 83 per 1,000, was reported for Vietnam and the lowest, seven per 1,000, for Belgium and the Netherlands. Abortion rates are no lower overall in areas where abortion is generally restricted by law (and where many abortions are performed under unsafe conditions) than in areas where abortion is legally permitted. CONCLUSIONS: Both developed and developing countries can have low abortion rates. Most countries, however, have moderate to high abortion rates, reflecting lower prevalence and effectiveness of contraceptive use. Stringent legal restrictions do not guarantee a low abortion rate.

Abortion, Illegal↗
PubMed1998

A global review of laws on induced abortion, 1985-1997.

CONTEXT: The legal status of induced abortion helps determine the availability of safe, affordable abortion services in a country, which in turn influences rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. It is important, therefore, for health professionals to know both the current status of abortion laws worldwide and the extent to which those laws are changing. METHODS: Abortion-related laws in 152 nations and dependent territories with populations of one million or more were reviewed, and changes in these laws since 1985 were documented. RESULTS: Currently 61% of the world's people live in countries where induced abortion is permitted either for a wide range of reasons or without restriction as to reason; in contrast, 25% reside in nations where abortion is generally prohibited. However, even in countries with highly restrictive laws, induced abortion is usually permitted when the woman's life is endangered; in contrast, even in nations with very liberal laws, access may be limited by gestational age restrictions, requirements that third parties authorize an abortion or limitations on the types of facilities that perform induced abortions. Since 1985, 19 nations have significantly liberalized their abortion laws; only one country has substantially curtailed legal access to abortion. CONCLUSIONS: A global trend toward liberalization of abortion laws observed before 1985 appears to have continued in more recent years. Nevertheless, women's ability to obtain abortion services is affected not just by the laws in force in a particular country, but also by how these laws are interpreted, how they are enforced and what the attitude of the medical community is toward abortion.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMed1997

The impact of Mississippi's mandatory delay law on abortions and births.

CONTEXT: Beginning August 8, 1992, a woman in the state of Mississippi had to wait 24 hours after in-person receipt of state-mandated information regarding abortion and birth complications, fetal development, and alternatives to abortion before an abortion could be performed. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of the law on the abortion and birth rates of Mississippi residents. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of abortion and birth rates before and after the law in Mississippi as contrasted with abortion and birth rates in 2 comparison states, Georgia and South Carolina. Neither Georgia nor South Carolina enforced a mandatory delay law, but both states began enforcement of parental notification statutes during the study period. PATIENTS: Female residents of reproductive age in Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina between 1989 and 1994. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We compared birth rates, abortion rates, the percentage of late abortions, and the percentage of abortions performed outside the state of residence for all women and then by age and race before and after August 1992 among women of Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina. RESULTS: We found that rate ratios (RRs) of resident abortion rates (rate after law implementation/rate before law implementation) declined 12% more in Mississippi than in South Carolina (95% confidence interval [CI], 8%-15%) and 14% more in Mississippi than in Georgia (95% CI, 10%-17%) in the 12 months after the law went into effect. Rate ratios for white adults declined 22% more in Mississippi than in South Carolina (95% CI, 17%-27%) and 20% more in Mississippi than in Georgia (95% CI, 15%-25%). Changes among nonwhite adults and white teens were more modest but also statistically significant (P<.05). For all women, RRs of the percentage of abortions performed after 12 weeks' gestation increased 39% more in Mississippi than in either South Carolina or Georgia (P<.05); the increase in the percentage of abortions after 12 weeks' gestation was observed for white and non-white adults (P<.05). We also show that the percentage of abortions performed out of state increased 42% more among women in Mississippi relative to women in South Carolina after the law (95% CI, 34%-50%). CONCLUSION: The timing of the decline in abortion rates in Mississippi, the lack of similar declines in comparison states, the rise in percentage of late abortions and abortions performed out of state and the apparent completeness of abortion reports suggest that Mississippi's mandatory delay statute was responsible for a decline in abortion rates and an increase in abortions performed later in pregnancy among residents of Mississippi. The effect of delay laws in other states will likely depend on whether statutes require 2 separate visits to the abortion provider (ie, clinics, hospitals, or physicians' offices where abortions are performed) and the availability of abortion services.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1994

Recent trends in the legal status of induced abortion.

During the middle and later years of the twentieth century, a movement to liberalize laws governing induced abortion swept the industrialized world and some of the major developing countries. The changes have generated an increasingly visible reaction among groups that seek to block further liberalization and re-institute restrictions on abortion. An examination of all changes in laws and regulations governing induced abortion that took effect between January, 1988 and February, 1993 found that the overall movement is still in the direction of liberalization of abortion laws, although restrictions have been increased in a few countries. During the time period studied, five countries made major liberalizing changes in their laws, while only one imposed major restrictions.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Teenage abortion and pregnancy statistics by state, 1996.

CONTEXT: State-level teenage pregnancy rates, birthrates and abortion rates are needed for state-specific programs and policies. Accurate and complete state-level data were last published in 1992. METHODS: Teenage abortion rates according to state of residence, race and ethnicity were calculated from the results of The Alan Guttmacher Institute's survey of abortion providers and from information compiled by state health statistics agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Natality data were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics, and population denominators from the Census Bureau. RESULTS: In 1996, some 97 pregnancies, 54 births and 29 abortions occurred per 1,000 U.S. women aged 15-19. At the national level and in virtually all states, these rates have fallen since 1992, yet they remain higher than rates in most other developed countries. The decline in the teenage abortion rate (from 36 per 1,000 in 1992) has been proportionately greater than the drop in the birthrate (from 61 per 1,000), indicating that an increasing proportion of pregnant teenagers are continuing their pregnancies. Pregnancy rates, birthrates and abortion rates vary enormously among the states for reasons that are largely unexplained. Pregnancy rates and birthrates tend to be highest in the South and Southwest, while abortion rates are highest in the most urban states. CONCLUSIONS: Teenage pregnancy is declining in all parts of the country. Although rates have fallen, further progress is possible, as is indicated by the low rates in certain states and in other developed countries. More research is needed to identify the factors influencing the reproductive behavior of adolescents.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Parental involvement in minors' abortion decisions.

In a 1991 study based on a nationally representative sample of more than 1,500 unmarried minors having an abortion, 61% of the respondents said that one or both of their parents (usually the mother) knew about the abortion. Only 26% of the respondents said their father knew about the abortion; furthermore, 57% of the mothers who knew about their daughter's pregnancy did not tell her father. In this study, which was conducted in states without parental involvement laws in effect, about 75% of the parents who knew about the pregnancy had been told by the daughter herself, and the great majority supported their daughter's decision to have an abortion. Among the minors whose parents found out without being told by the minor, 18% said their parents were forcing them to have an abortion and 6% reported physical violence, being forced to leave home or damage to their parents' health. Minors who did not tell their parents were disproportionately older (aged 16 or 17), white and employed. The minors' most common reasons for not telling their parents were wanting to preserve their relationship with their parents and wanting to protect the parents from stress and conflict. Of those who did not tell their parents, 30% had experienced violence in their family, feared that violence would occur or were afraid of being forced to leave home. Among minors whose parents were unaware of the pregnancy, all consulted someone other than clinic staff about the abortion; most frequently, they consulted their boyfriend (89%), an adult (52%) or a professional (22%).

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The accessibility of abortion services in the United States.

Abortion services are provided in hospitals, doctors' offices and various types of clinics, but about two-thirds of procedures are performed in specialized abortion clinics. While this system appears to work well for most women, some women seeking abortion face obstacles related to distance, cost, harassment and special medical conditions. Nine percent of nonhospital abortion patients must travel more than 100 miles and 18 percent travel 50 to 100 miles for services. The average woman having a first-trimester nonhospital abortion paid $251 in 1989. Fees were higher in facilities with small abortion caseloads. An abortion at 10 weeks' gestation in a hospital cost an average of $1,757. Charges for abortions at 16 weeks averaged $509 in abortion clinics, compared with $1,539 in hospitals for curettage and $2,246 for instillation procedures. Some women face other barriers: Only 43 percent of all abortion facilities offer services past 12 weeks, and 27-37 percent of nonhospital facilities say they do not treat patients who test positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. Women who need special services such as an administration of Rh immunoglobulin, general anesthesia or HIV testing usually pay extra for these services. In addition, 85 percent of nonhospital facilities that serve 400 or more abortion patients a year reported some form of antiabortion harassment in 1988, most commonly picketing; there was virtually no change in this proportion between 1985 and 1988.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Characteristics of U.S. women having abortions, 1987.

In 1987, as in earlier years, women having abortions were predominantly white (65 percent), younger than 25 (59 percent), and unmarried (82 percent). A majority had no previous live births (53 percent), and most had no previous abortions (58 percent). About half the abortions were performed before nine weeks of gestation, and 97 percent were curettage procedures, usually suction curettage. Comparisons with 1980 data reveal a six percent decline in the U.S. abortion rate after changes in age, race and marital status within the population are controlled for; however, the decline occurred only among the white population and not among minority races. Among teenagers aged 15-19, the abortion rate declined slightly for whites and increased for minorities. The rate also increased among women younger than age 15.

Abortion Applicants↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Induced abortion: a world review, 1990.

The worldwide trend toward liberalization of abortion laws has continued in the last four years with changes in Canada, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, the Soviet Union and Vietnam. Forty percent of the world's population now lives in countries where induced abortion is permitted on request, and 25 percent lives where it is allowed only if the woman's life is in danger. In 1987, an estimated 26 to 31 million legal abortions and 10 to 22 million clandestine abortions were performed worldwide. Legal abortion rates ranged from a high of at least 112 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age in the Soviet Union to a low of five per 1,000 in the Netherlands. In recent years, abortion rates have been increasing in Czechoslovakia, England and Wales, New Zealand and Sweden and declining in China, France, Iceland, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands. In most Western European and English-speaking countries, about half of abortions are obtained by young, unmarried women seeking to delay a first birth, while in Eastern Europe and the developing countries, abortion is most common among married women with two or more children. Mortality from legal abortion averages 0.6 deaths per 100,000 procedures in developed countries with data. Abortion services are increasingly being provided outside of hospitals, and for those performed in hospitals, overnight stays are becoming less common. National health insurance covers abortions needed to preserve the health of a pregnant woman in all developed countries except the United States, where Medicaid and federal insurance programs do not cover abortion unless the woman's life is in danger.

Abortion, Induced↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Abortion services in the United States, 1987 and 1988.

A 1989 survey by The Alan Guttmacher Institute shows that 1.6 million abortions were performed in the United States in 1988, a number that has remained relatively unchanged since 1980. More than 98 percent of abortions in 1987-1988 were performed in metropolitan areas. Although 51 percent of metropolitan counties have no provider of abortion services, 93 percent of nonmetropolitan counties are without a provider. The lack of abortion services in nonmetropolitan areas has been intensified by a 13 percent reduction since 1985 in the number of hospitals that offer abortion services. The number of nonhospital facilities providing abortion services increased by four percent, however, and specialized clinics provided 64 percent of all abortions performed in 1988.

Abortion, Legal↗