USA – Women denied abortion more likely to be in a poor-quality relationship 5 years later compared to those allowed to abort

by Vladimir Hedrih
September 29, 2023

A study analyzing women who sought abortions discovered that one week after the request, there was a 58% likelihood of the women remaining in a relationship with the man involved in the conception. This number dropped to 27% five years post-request. Importantly, women denied an abortion demonstrated significantly higher chances of being in a substandard romantic relationship five years on, in comparison to their counterparts who had abortions. The study was published in Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Abortion, a procedure terminating a pregnancy before the fetus can live outside the womb, is usually conducted within the first 24 weeks of gestation. It can be pursued for diverse reasons, from medical imperatives to personal choices. The procedure frequently becomes a contentious point in public discussions, which encompass women’s reproductive rights, ethical dilemmas, and the legalities governing abortion accessibility.

Continued: https://www.psypost.org/2023/09/women-denied-abortion-more-likely-to-be-in-a-poor-quality-relationship-5-years-later-compared-to-those-allowed-to-abort-213868

29.09.2023

Research

abortion and relationship quality

abortion denial

Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health

USA – Even the meaning of the word ‘abortion’ is up for debate

September 26, 2023
Selena Simmons-Duffin (4-Minute Listen with Transcript)

For all that abortion is talked about in hospitals, courts, legislatures and the media, it turns out the public doesn't really agree on what the word means, a new survey finds.

The study by the Guttmacher Institute, a group that supports abortion rights, questioned people about a series of situations showing various circumstances in a pregnancy. Researchers asked: Is this an abortion? Yes, no or maybe?

Continued: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/25/1201620968/what-does-the-word-abortion-mean

26.09.2023

Research

Alicia VandeVusse

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Guttmacher Institute

meaning of the word abortion

Ushma Upadhyay

United States

USA – Total abortion bans are not at all popular, poll finds

The latest 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll finds that Americans often hold contradictory views on restrictions on abortion, highlighting the complexity of finding consensus on the issue.

Shefali Luthra, Health Reporter
September 18, 2023

Only 9 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances even as 14 states are enforcing near-total bans on the procedure, the 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll has found.

Past polling has frequently found that people hold sometimes confusing and conflicting opinions about abortion, and this poll is no different: Some of those who say they support completely outlawing the procedure still believe abortion should be allowed in at least some circumstances.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2023/09/poll-abortion-americans-complex-views/

18.09.2023

Research

abortion bans

opinion polls on abortion

public support for abortion

United States

Human Rights

Fatal abortion in sub-Saharan Africa: ‘She dilated my cervix with a cassava root and the fetus fell out’

A study by Doctors Without Borders and others warns of the proliferation of complications suffered by women following a terminated pregnancy in conflict-affected regions

MONICAH MWANGI, BEATRIZ LECUMBERRI, (REUTERS)
SEP 11, 2023

“I arrived at a hospital in Bangui and a 25-year-old woman had just died in my colleagues’ arms from complications following an abortion,” says Estelle Pasquier, a researcher with Doctors Without Borders (MSF). “This can happen several times a month, but it is a preventable death with the right measures. The doctors there have their hands tied by legal and social impediments, but the vast majority consider that the healthcare in these circumstances is a right for all women because they see the damage wreaked on a daily basis when that right is ignored.” What Pasquier is describing prompted a pioneering study, of which she is co-author, on the complications suffered by women after abortion in particularly volatile regions of sub-Saharan Africa, a corner of the world where 70% of deaths related in some way to maternity occur.

Continued: https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-09-11/fatal-abortion-in-sub-saharan-africa-she-dilated-my-cervix-with-a-cassava-root-and-the-fetus-fell-out.html

New State Abortion Data Indicate Widespread Travel for Care

Monthly Abortion Provision Study Findings Validate Efforts to Strengthen Abortion Protections

Isaac Maddow-Zimet, Kelly Baden, Rachel K. Jones, Isabel DoCampo, Jesse Philbin – Guttmacher Institute
September 7, 2023

In a post-Roe landscape, each state’s abortion policy reaches far beyond that state’s borders—in significant part because many people seeking abortion are proving highly motivated to travel to get the care they need in the face of abortion bans. Since June 2022, even as many states have banned abortion, many others have enacted measures to protect and expand abortion access. These measures have included repealing burdensome restrictions, dedicating funding for clinic and support infrastructure, enacting shield laws and enshrining abortion rights in their constitutions. Such policies are vitally important, given the increased demand for abortion in these states.

Estimates of the number of abortions provided within the formal US health care system from Guttmacher’s new Monthly Abortion Provision Study validate these efforts to shore up access in states that support abortion rights and highlight the need for more such protections. The study has documented substantial increases in abortions in many states bordering those where abortion has been banned, indicating that significant numbers of residents of states with abortion bans are traveling to neighboring states for abortion care. These findings indicate that all aspects of the abortion infrastructure—including facilities, funds and support networks—require sustained support to serve increased patient caseloads.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/2023/09/new-state-abortion-data-indicate-widespread-travel-care

07.09.2023

Research

abortion increases in legal states

Guttmacher Institute

Monthly Abortion Provision Study

traveling for abortion

United States

Human Rights

Law

Five takeaways from MSF’s study on unsafe abortions

Posted 6 Sep 2023
Reliefweb

A study of two hospitals in conflict-affected settings finds patients at significantly higher risk of developing severe complications resulting from unsafe abortions.

Unsafe abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the world, with over 20,000 people dying each year due to related complications. In fragile or conflict-affected settings, the complications resulting from unsafe abortion are up to seven times more severe.

Continued: https://reliefweb.int/report/central-african-republic/five-takeaways-msfs-study-unsafe-abortions

06.09.2023

Research

maternal mortality

Medicins sans Frontieres

Africa

Central African Republic

Abortion: Women more at risk of death in fragile and conflict-affected settings

5 September 2023
Médecins Sans Frontières

Complications following unsafe abortions are up to seven times more severe in fragile or conflict-affected settings: these are the findings of one of the very first studies on the subject, carried out in two referral hospitals in Bangui in the Central African Republic and Jigawa State in northern Nigeria. Behind the statistics, real stories of real women – and a universal vulnerability.

“I was distraught. I had drunk the traditional medicine. Before that, someone had shown me how to insert a piece of iron into my vagina... It was a piece of iron like this [she shows the interviewer the size],” says Rasha*, a 32-year-old woman admitted to Bangui referral hospital with potentially life-threatening abortion-related complications.

Continued: https://www.msf.org/abortion-women-more-risk-death-fragile-and-conflict-affected-settings

Global – Data Dive: How women and men feel about abortion issues

In five points, we look at how people across 29 countries feel about everything from if, and when, abortion should be legal to who, if anyone, should be punished when it’s illegal.

29 August 2023
Ipsos

How do women and men feel about abortion?
Like politics and religion, it’s a topic most steer clear of debating with friends and family at the dinner table. For many, abortion can be such a hot potato as it’s framed as both a highly personal choice and a hotly debated political subject.

It’s also, for obvious reasons, often portrayed as a “woman’s issue” only. Add on to that news photos of pro-choice rallies that can make it appear as if it’s only young women who support legal abortion and it’s only old men who oppose it.

Continued: https://www.ipsos.com/en/data-dive-how-women-and-men-feel-about-abortion-issues

29.08.2023

Research

Ipsos Knowledge Centre

Ipsos poll on abortion

Jamie Stinson

public support for abortion

survey on abortion

Global

Home test that checks if an abortion has worked reduces follow-up surgery, study finds

A successful Australian trial of a urine test to detect whether an abortion has worked will be welcomed by rural and remote patients, say clinicians

Natasha May
Wed 16 Aug 2023

A home test that checks whether a drug-induced abortion has worked is not only safe but reduces rates of unnecessary follow-up surgery, an Australian-first study has found.

People who attend clinics to access medication to terminate a pregnancy, known as a medical abortion, usually need to see a doctor 14 days later and may undergo a blood test to examine levels of a hormone known as hCG, along with an ultrasound to rule out complications.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/16/home-test-that-checks-if-an-abortion-has-worked-reduces-follow-up-surgery-study-finds

16.08.2023

home test for mifepristone

Marie Stopes International Australia

medication abortion

mifepristone

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Therapeutic Goods Administration

USA – Almost 2 Million Women Now Live in ‘Double Deserts’ Without Abortion or Maternity Care

The people trapped in these areas may have no choice but to continue their pregnancies without adequate prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care.

By Susan Rinkunas
Aug 3, 2023

An estimated 1.78 million women of reproductive age live in a U.S. county with no access to abortion or maternity care, according to a chilling analysis from ABC News and Boston Children’s Hospital. If the criteria are broadened to include counties with “low access” to maternity care, the number shoots up to 3.7 million women.

The women and pregnant people trapped in these areas may have no choice but to continue a pregnancy they didn’t want, or one that threatens their health, while being unable to get adequate prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care. It’s the horrifying collision of the twin crises of state abortion bans and women dying from pregnancy, and experts worry that the U.S. maternal mortality will continue to rise. Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes.

Continued: https://jezebel.com/almost-2-million-women-now-live-in-double-deserts-witho-1850703945

03.08.2023