Reasons why women have induced abortions in a developing country

Objective: The immediate explanation that women often give for seeking indu ced abortion is that the pregnancy was unplanned or unwanted. However, the myriad social, economic and health circumstances that underlie such explana tions have not yet been fully explored. We wanted to evaluate these factors that lead one to have an abortion. Study design: This prospective study wa s performed on 588 women applied to our family planning unit to obtain an a bortion. Analysis is based on the records of the women's age, educational l evel, their contraceptive usage and the reasons that they give for having a n abortion. We also examined how these reasons were related to women's age, educational attainment and contraceptive choices. Results: The desire to p ostpone a birth or to stop childbearing is a very common reason given by th e women seeking abortion. It is seen that despite the women's desire to pos tpone or stop childbearing, the majority of them were not using an effectiv e contraceptive method. Women's age is closely related to their reasons for seeking an abortion. On the other hand, we have found no clear association between women's educational level and their main reasons for seeking an ab ortion. Conclusion: Reasons women give for why they seek abortion are often far more complex than simply not intending to become pregnant. While impro ved contraceptive use can help reduce the unintended pregnancy and abortion , some abortions will remain difficult to prevent, because of limits to wom en's ability to determine and control all circumstances of their lives. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.