Knowledge and experiences of abortion among adolescent girls in Asia: a scoping review from 2010 to 2020

It has been estimated that 5.6 million abortions occur each year among adolescent girls aged 15 - 19 years, of which 3.9 million are unsafe. The situation in Asia is particularly complicated compared to other regions due to the distinction in socio-cultural characteristics. This study aimed to describe abortion knowledge and experiences of adolescent girls in Asian countries in the period 2010 - 2020. Among 22 included publications, 41% of the studies were conducted in South-East Asia. The percentage of girls lacked knowledge and had improper perceptions of abortion could be as high as 95.7%. Common reasons for abortion were health conditions and socio-economic pressures, such as poverty and the need to maintain social self-sufficiency. Medical and surgical abortion was common, and while many girls went to hospitals and legitimate health providers, some did it themselves or went to clandestine abortion. Physical complications included menstrual disorders, pain, fever, vaginal bleeding or even septic shock, while feeling guilty and stressed was flagged as emotional consequences. To improve the situation of teenage abortion in Asia, adolescents should be provided with adequate knowledge on abortion laws and care, parents should be more open to this issue and governments should consider permitting legal abortion among adolescents.

Abortion in Europe: Recent legislative changes and risk of inequality

BACKGROUND: Induced abortion is a medical practice that has always been much discussed all over the world. Abortion is allowed in most European countries at the request of the woman with limitations that are imposed mainly by the gestational age. However, there are legislative differences between European countries which impose stringent limits on the use of induced abortion. OBJECTIVE: This article analyzes the European legislation on abortion, with a particular focus on countries in which there have been recent legislative changes in recent years, and the possible consequent risk of inequality among European women. METHODS: Government and ministerial websites of the countries analyzed have been consulted to investigate abortion laws in Europe. In addition, the Global Abortion Policies Database of the World Health Organization was also consulted for a regulatory comparison. RESULTS: The differences between the various European countries are considerable. Although guaranteed by most legislation, abortion remains a fragile right in some European countries. CONCLUSION: Different legislation in the various countries of Europe causes difficulties for women who want to have an abortion but who reside in states where there are strict limits to abortion. In addressing the issue of induced abortion, we must not forget that the center of this practice is the woman. For this reason, it is essential to apply a reasoning based on respect for women’s rights: freedom, health, and self-determination.

Abortion in Countries with Restrictive Abortion Laws—Possible Directions and Solutions from the Perspective of Poland

The tendency towards the radicalization of abortion law is observed in numerous countries, including Poland. The aim of the present paper was to determine the main factors influencing the number of abortions performed worldwide and to indicate the main directions which should be followed to improve the patients’ well-being. The authors conducted their search in the PubMed of the National Library of Medicine and Google Scholar. Databases were extensively searched for all original and review articles/book chapters in English until June 2021. The main problems associated with the contemporary policy of birth regulation include no possibility of undergoing a termination because of the conscience clause invoked by the medical personnel, restrictive abortion law and lack of sexual education. Minimal changes that should be considered are: improved sex education and the availability of contraception, free access to abortion-inducing drugs with adequate information provided by qualified medical personnel in countries with a conscience clause invoked by the personnel, and the development of an international network which would facilitate undergoing a pregnancy termination abroad to provide women with access to legal abortion assisted by professional medical personnel.

The Social Circumstances that Criminalized Abortion in the 19th Century

To say abortion is a controversial subject is an understatement. While there was no federal law against abortion in the 19thcentury, the majority of the states in the U.S. introduced anti-abortion laws after the Comstock Laws outlawed the drugs and practices that made abortion possible in 1873.[1] Legal or not, women have been subject to unrelenting criticism regarding the termination of unwanted pregnancies for centuries. To form realistic conclusions about abortion in the 19thcentury, it is essential to take into consideration far more than the dispute of morality. Regulation of abortive practices was, as this paper will indicate, less about medical safety and gestational awareness than sexual inequality and racial disparities; the aim of this research is to determine the social circumstances that influenced the conceptualization of abortion and inspired legal action against it. [1] https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/42nd-congress/session-3/c42s3ch258.pdf

Abortion Laws in Muslim Countries: Modern Reconfiguration of Pre-modern Logic

In most countries where Islam is acknowledged as a, or the, source of legislation, abortion is permitted under certain conditions and at certain stages of pregnancy. This article examines some of these laws and argue that they represent a continuation of the logic that governed the views of pre-modern Muslim jurists on abortion, that is, harm aversion. However, these laws also add a ‘modernist’ twist to that logic – rather than repealing that logic altogether, modernist views on ‘rights’ and the advancement of medical knowledge and technology have influenced the priorities of Muslim jurists and lawmakers as far as abortion and the issues associated with it are concerned. This influence has furthermore been possible by a conscious selection and blending of pre-modern views to serve modern concerns. In all this, however, harm aversion remains the centrifugal principle, even when the abortion discourse in Muslim countries appears couched in the modernist discourse of rights.