How to make abortion rarer
Bans and restrictions do not work. Superior birth control does
Dec 3rd 2016 | ATHENS AND SEOUL

ABORTION, says Theodora, a Greek civil servant, was “an absolute necessity” when she became pregnant last year. Her husband had lost his job and money was too tight for a third child. The procedure, at a private clinic, was “efficient”; she was in and out in three hours. Hers was a typical experience for a middle-class Athenian woman. It is not uncommon for one to have four or five abortions, says a gynaecologist in Athens. In Greece abortion is seen as an ordinary form of birth control.

Most modern contraceptives, however, are not viewed that way. More than half of married Greek women use none at all. Withdrawal and condoms are the methods of choice for most couples who are trying not to have a baby—even medical students, who should know that these fail about a fifth of couples who rely on them for a year. Greeks commonly believe that the pill and other hormonal contraceptives cause infertility and cancer. They also distrust intrauterine devices (IUDs), possibly because they have been taught that tampons are unhealthy.

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Source: The Economist