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PubMed · 11656216

The abortion pill: a solution for unsafe abortions in developing countries?

Amanda Le Grand
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Abstract

The abortion pill is a new abortion technique which does not require technically skilled health personnel. Several clinical researchers have stated that the ease of administration of the abortion pill gives it the potential to save lives in countries where thousands of women die annually from complications of failed abortions due to poor health services. This article discusses medical and users' aspects of the abortion pill, with particular emphasis on its use in developing countries, and questions the usefulness of the abortion pill in areas where health care facilities are in short supply. It stresses the need to consider the social, cultural and health care context in which the abortion pill will be used before it is sold on the world market. The safety and efficacy of the abortion pill could be adversely affected by the way women perceive its effectiveness, women's beliefs about conception and pregnancy, and their health status. In the present two-phase administration form the abortion pill is not likely to be appropriate for use in developing countries with a shortage of health care facilities.

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Abortion, IllegalAbortion, InducedAttitudeDeveloping CountriesFemaleHealth EducationHealth FacilitiesHealth PersonnelHormonesHumansInternational CooperationInternationalityJurisprudenceMaternal WelfareMifepristoneMorbidityMortalityPharmaceutical PreparationsPregnancyPregnant PeopleRiskRisk AssessmentSocioeconomic FactorsWomen's HealthGenetics and ReproductionJournal Article

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BibTeXRIS

Amanda Le Grand. 1992. The abortion pill: a solution for unsafe abortions in developing countries?. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(92)90076-3

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PubMed2007

Parental decisions to abort or continue a pregnancy following prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities in a setting where termination of pregnancy is not legally available.

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PubMed2006

Unsafe abortion: the preventable pandemic.

Ending the silent pandemic of unsafe abortion is an urgent public-health and human-rights imperative. As with other more visible global-health issues, this scourge threatens women throughout the developing world. Every year, about 19-20 million abortions are done by individuals without the requisite skills, or in environments below minimum medical standards, or both. Nearly all unsafe abortions (97%) are in developing countries. An estimated 68 000 women die as a result, and millions more have complications, many permanent. Important causes of death include haemorrhage, infection, and poisoning. Legalisation of abortion on request is a necessary but insufficient step toward improving women's health; in some countries, such as India, where abortion has been legal for decades, access to competent care remains restricted because of other barriers. Access to safe abortion improves women's health, and vice versa, as documented in Romania during the regime of President Nicolae Ceausescu. The availability of modern contraception can reduce but never eliminate the need for abortion. Direct costs of treating abortion complications burden impoverished health care systems, and indirect costs also drain struggling economies. The development of manual vacuum aspiration to empty the uterus, and the use of misoprostol, an oxytocic agent, have improved the care of women. Access to safe, legal abortion is a fundamental right of women, irrespective of where they live. The underlying causes of morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion today are not blood loss and infection but, rather, apathy and disdain toward women.

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