strategy
Improving access to abortion
Synonyms:
Upgrading abortion facilitiesEnhancing services for early termination of pregnancy
Description:
Reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in developing countries due to abortion complications by providing training programmes for medical personnel in the manual vacuum aspiration abortion technique, with a focus on contraceptive follow-up. Context:
Even where abortion is legal, it is not always available -- the conditions may be too stringent, or the hospitals too few. When abortion was legalized in Zambia, no extra services were provided and because the practice became socially acceptable, the unsafe abortion rate actually increased.The main drug for inducing abortion, mifepristone, also known as RU486, is indicated for use within nine weeks of the start of a woman's menstrual period. It blocks the hormone progesterone, which is required for establishing and maintaining a pregnancy.
Implementation:
In 2003, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service was seeking permission from the Department of Health to carry out 500 drug-induced abortions at home as a pilot project. The charity carries out thousands of abortions a year, which currently require up to four visits to a hospital or clinic. Broader:
Improving accessReducing individual fertilityDemanding safe legal abortionSupplying family planning services Constrains:
Restricting abortion Constrained by:
Campaigning against abortion Facilitated by:
Legalizing abortionTraining in clinical family planningUsing abortion for population control Values:
Abortion Organizations:
IPAS Subjects:
Medicine → Reproductive systemSocial Activity → Services
Research, Standards → Quality unification
Development → Reform
Type Classification:
D: Detailed strategies Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
