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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Constructing access to legal abortion services in Mexico City.

For the last three decades, government and health institutions have recognised that unsafe abortion is an important social and public health problem in Mexico. Although the Penal Code in every state defines at least one situation in which abortion is legal, access to legal abortion services is restricted for women throughout Mexico. In August 2000, the Mexico City Legislative Assembly reformed the Penal Code to include a wider range of grounds on which abortion is legal and added regulations to ensure access to legal abortion services in cases of rape and forced artificial insemination. The Mexican Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the reforms in January 2002. This paper describes a collaborative project between Ipas Mexico and the Mexico City Department of Health to provide legal abortions in cases of rape and to ensure that comprehensive health services for survivors of sexual violence are available and accessible. It describes a model of care being introduced into 15 public general and maternal-child health hospitals in Mexico City through a programme of multi-disciplinary consciousness-raising workshops and training courses on sexual violence and legal abortion. Few health care providers have had prior training in service provision for survivors of sexual violence or abortion service delivery. Workshop participants showed a high level of willingness to participate in legal abortion services for survivors of sexual violence when and if they are receive solid institutional support.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Did abortion legalization reduce the number of unwanted children? Evidence from adoptions.

CONTEXT: The legalization of abortion in the United States led to well-known changes in reproductive behavior, but its effect on adoptions has not been investigated. METHODS: Variation across states in the timing and extent of abortion legalization is used to identify the effects of changes in the legal status of abortion on adoption rates from 1961 to 1975. These effects are estimated in regression analyses that control for states' economic, demographic and political characteristics, as well as for health care availability within states. RESULTS: The rate of adoptions of children born to white women declined by 34-37% in states that repealed restrictive abortion laws before Roe v. Wade. The effect was concentrated among adoptions by petitioners not related to the child. Legal reforms resulting in small increases in access, such as in cases of rape and incest, were associated with a 15-18% decline in adoptions of children born to nonwhite women; however, this decline may have been due to other changes in the policy environment for such adoptions. Rates of adoption of children born to white women appear to have declined after Roe v. Wade, but this association is not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The estimated effect of abortion legalization on adoption rates is sizable and can account for much of the decline in adoptions, particularly of children born to white women, during the early 1970s. These findings support previous studies' conclusions that abortion legalization led to a reduction in the number of "unwanted" children; such a reduction may have improved average infant health and children's living conditions.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed2002

Making legal abortion accessible in Brazil.

Abortion is legal in Brazil if it is the only means to save the woman's life or if the pregnancy is the result of rape. Although this has been the law for over 60 years, it has almost never been applied until recent years. In the past five years, the number of hospitals providing care to women victims of sexual violence has increased from 4 to 63, of which 40 are currently providing legal abortions. This paper describes a sensitization project and advocacy work carried out from within the obstetric and gynaecology establishment which has succeeded in motivating many key individuals and hospital staff to provide services for pregnancy termination in cases of rape. The dialogue between medical leaders and women's rights advocates and the emphasis on comprehensive care of women who have suffered sexual violence are key elements in the success of this initiative. The support of medical professionals, the organization and strength of the women's health and rights movement, the political support at federal, state and city government levels, including from the Federal Ministry of Health, and ongoing advocacy within the medical establishment have all been important elements in making the provision of services a reality.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1997

Effect of deep injections of local anesthetics and basal dilatation of cervix in management of pain during legal abortions. A randomized, controlled study.

The present study was designed to investigate whether deep injections of local anesthetics provide better pain control than regular injections of local anesthetics, and to evaluate the influence of basal cervical dilatation and dilatation increase obtained on the painfulness of abortion procedure during legal abortions. A total of 66 women undergoing legal abortion were randomly allocated to treatment with deep injection (n = 31) or regular injection (n = 35) group. Subjects in the deep injection group had paracervical block involving four injections approximately 3 cm deep. Subjects assigned to the regular injection group had paracervical block involving four injections approximately 1.5 cm deep. A pain scale was administered at the end of the dilatation and end of curettage. Both groups were found to be similar with respect to age, parity, previous legal abortion, gestational age, anxiety score, procedure time, basal cervical dilatation, and dilatation increase obtained. The mean pain score during cervical dilatation was less for the deep injection versus the regular injection group (3.3 +/- 1.5 versus 4.0 +/- 1.6, p < 0.05). The mean pain score during curettage was significantly less for the deep injection versus the regular injection group (3.0 +/- 1.2 versus 3.9 +/- 1.4, p < 0.05). In conclusion, deep injection of local anesthetics is a safe adjunct in the management of legal abortion. Irrespective of injection technique, dilatation pain is correlated negatively with basal cervical dilatation and correlated positively with dilatation increase obtained.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1984

Legal abortion and placenta previa.

Legal abortion has been postulated to be a risk factor for placenta previa in subsequent pregnancies. To examine this hypothesis, we analyzed the deliveries of 28,665 women. We identified 68 women who had had placenta previa and compared their obstetric histories with those of 68 controls randomly selected from the same group of deliveries. The crude risk ratio for women with a history of one or more legal abortions was 1.4 (95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 3.6; p greater than 0.05). Standardizing the crude risk ratio for the effects of age and gravidity reduced the risk ratio to 1.1 (95% confidence interval, 0.4 to 2.8). In this predominantly black population legal abortion does not appear to have a significant association with placenta previa in subsequent pregnancies.

Abortion, Legal↗