Abortions in the Soviet Union became much more accessible under the Khrushchev administration in 1953, and the USSR's abortion rate subsequently developed into the highest in the world. The Soviet government did not begin releasing official statistical data until the 1970s, however it is believed that around six or seven million abortions were carried out each year in the 1950s and 1960s; a figure that remained fairly consistent until the late 1980s**. This high rate was, in-part, due to rapid urbanization and a desire for smaller families, as well as the lack of quality contraceptives produced by the Soviet government, and the widespread belief that abortion was safer than the side-effects of hormonal regulation via the pill. Relative to population size, there were between 97 and 106 abortions carried out per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 49 in the given years, which is roughly equal to one in ten women of childbearing age having an abortion each year (estimates for Russia alone suggest that this number was one in six in the 1960s). There were however regional disparities across the Soviet Union, as abortions were much more accessible and common in the European part of the country, and less available or socially acceptable in the Muslim-majority and rural regions of Asia. Abortion in the U.S. In the U.S. during this time, the abortion rate was much lower due to previous legal restrictions and lack of access, societal attitudes, and better access to contraceptives. Prior to 1973, abortions were either banned outright or only available under specific circumstances in all-but-four states. The Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade then saw the removal of most federal restrictions relating to abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. This granted women across the country greater access to legal abortions; in 1975 there were over one million legal abortions performed in the U.S., and between 1.5 and 1.6 million in the 1980s. Proportional to population size, this equated to 29 abortions per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 45 in 1980, which is roughly equal to one in 34 women of childbearing age having an abortion in this year. Legacy During the decline and dissolution of the Soviet Union, the government began to promote the use of contraceptives, however the poor quality and supply of these reinforced former perceptions that they were more harmful than abortions. Additionally, medical institutions received much higher sums from the government when abortions were performed (relative to income from contraceptives), and these incentives delayed the drop in Russian and other post-Soviet states' abortion rates. While it is now generally accepted that contraception is safer than abortion, and awareness of the risks of infertility and maternal death has become more widespread, today, Soviet successor states have some of the highest abortion rates in the world by a considerable margin.

In the U.S., following the peak of almost 30 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 in the 1980s, the abortion rate has gradually fallen with each decade, even dropping below the 1973 level in 2017. Although this is a side effect of improvements in contraception and education, a large part of this decline can be attributed to restricted access to abortion, particularly in rural and southern regions. While the majority of U.S. adults support Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling in June 2022, granting states the right to determine their own abortion laws.

In 2022, there were around 613 thousand legal abortions in the United States. The number of legal abortions in the United States has decreased significantly since the early 1990’s. This number will probably continue to decrease in the coming years since many states have severely limited or completely banned abortion after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court in 2022. The states with the highest abortion rates In 2022, the rate of legal abortions per live births in the United States was 19.9 per 100. In comparison, in 1990 there were 34.4 abortions per 100 live births. The states with the highest rates of abortion per live births are New Mexico, Illinois, and Florida. In Florida, there were around 37 abortions per 100 live births in 2022. Florida had the highest total number of abortions that year, followed by New York and Illinois. Missouri and South Dakota had the lowest number of abortions in 2022. Out-of-state abortions Critics of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade argue that while those who can afford it may be able to travel to other states for an abortion if their state bans the procedure, poorer residents will have no such choice. Even before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, out-of-state residents already accounted for a high share of abortions in certain states. In 2022, 69 percent of abortions in Kansas were performed on out-of-state residents, while out-of-state residents accounted for around 62 percent of abortions in New Mexico. Illinois had the highest total number of abortions performed on out-of-state residents that year, with around 16,849 procedures.

Analysis of ‘🤰 Pregnancy, Birth & Abortion Rates (1973 - 2016)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://www.kaggle.com/yamqwe/pregnancy-birth-abortion-rates-in-the-united-stae on 13 February 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

About this dataset

Source: OSF | Downloaded on 29 October 2020

This data source is a subset of the original data source. The data has been split by State, Metric and Age Range. It has been limited to pregnancy rate, birth rate and abortion rate per 1,000 women. The original data contains many more measures.

The data was prepared with Tableau Prep.

Summary via OSF -

A data set of comprehensive historical statistics on the incidence of pregnancy, birth and abortion for people of all reproductive ages in the United States. National statistics cover the period from 1973 to 2016, the most recent year for which comparable data are available; state-level statistics are for selected years from 1988 to 2016. For a report describing key highlights from these data, as well as a methodology appendix describing our methods of estimation and data sources used, see https://guttmacher.org/report/pregnancies-births-abortions-in-united-states-1973-2016.

​

This dataset was created by Andy Kriebel and contains around 20000 samples along with Age Range, Events Per 1,000 Women, technical information and other features such as: - State - Year - and more.

How to use this dataset

• Analyze Metric in relation to Age Range
• Study the influence of Events Per 1,000 Women on State
• More datasets

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit Andy Kriebel

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--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

A survey of women who obtained an abortion in the United States between June 2021 and July 2022 found that 45 percent of women who received an abortion were insured under Medicaid, while 21 percent had no health insurance at all. This statistic shows the distribution of women in the U.S. who obtained an abortion from June 2021 to July 2022, by health insurance status.

The Data Center at the Guttmacher Institute is focused on providing information on the state, national, and international level related to reproductive and sexual health. Background The Data Center is maintained by the Guttmacher Institute. The Guttmacher Institute’s goal is to advance the sexual and reproductive health in the United States and worldwide through an interrelated program of social science research, policy analysis and public education designed to generate new ideas, encourage enlightened public debate and promote sound policy and program development. In 2009, Guttmacher was designated an official Collaborating Center for Reproductive Health by the World Health Organization and its regional office, the Pan American Health Organization. The Institute produces a wide range of publications and resources on topics pertaining to sexual and reproductive health, including International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, the Guttmacher Policy Review and Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. The Data Center allows users to search on the national, inter national, and state level for specific laws and policies related to title X, family planning, abortion policies, contraceptive needs and services, and teen pregnancy. User functionality Users are able to search U.S. and state data as well as international data. State profiles and country summaries are provided and include synopses of the main legislation related to sexual and reproductive health in that area. Users are also able to customize domestic and international data by creating a specific table, tracking a specific trend, or generating a specific map. Users are able to select specific indicators including data related to abortions, adol escents, demographics, contraception, pregnancy, and services and financing. Data Notes Users are able to download reports and summaries in html or pdf formats. If users generate tables or maps they are created in html and excel formats. The source of the data is clearly labeled and provided for each table/report. There is no indication on the website as to how often the data is updated.

ObjectiveTo determine which characteristics and circumstances were associated with very early and second-trimester abortion.MethodsPaper and pencil surveys were collected from a national sample of 8,380 non-hospital U.S. abortion patients in 2014 and 2015. We used self-reported LMP to calculate weeks gestation; when LMP was not provided we used self-reported weeks pregnant. We constructed two dependent variables: obtaining a very early abortion, defined as six weeks gestation or earlier, and obtaining second-trimester abortion, defined as occurring at 13 weeks gestation or later. We examined associations between the two measures of gestation and a range of characteristics and circumstances, including type of abortion waiting period in the patients’ state of residence.ResultsAmong first-trimester abortion patients, characteristics that decreased the likelihood of obtaining a very early abortion include being under the age of 20, relying on financial assistance to pay for the procedure, recent exposure to two or more disruptive events and living in a state that requires in-person counseling 24–72 hours prior to the procedure. Having a college degree and early recognition of pregnancy increased the likelihood of obtaining a very early abortion. Characteristics that increased the likelihood of obtaining a second-trimester abortion include being Black, having less than a high school degree, relying on financial assistance to pay for the procedure, living 25 or more miles from the facility and late recognition of pregnancy.ConclusionsWhile the availability of financial assistance may allow women to obtain abortions they would otherwise be unable to have, it may also result in delays in accessing care. If poor women had health insurance that covered abortion services, these delays could be alleviated. Since the study period, four additional states have started requiring that women obtain in-person counseling prior to obtaining an abortion, and the increase in these laws could slow down the trend in very early abortion.

The IPUMS Contextual Determinants of Health (CDOH) data series includes measures of disparities, policies, and counts, by state or county, for historically marginalized populations in the United States including Black, Asian, Hispanic/Latina/o/e/x, and LGBTQ+ persons, and women. The IPUMS CDOH data are made available through ICPSR/DSDR for merging with the National Couples' Health and Time Study (NCHAT), United States, 2020-2021 (ICPSR 38417) by approved restricted data researchers. All other researchers can access the IPUMS CDOH data via the IPUMS CDOH website. Unlike other IPUMS products, the CDOH data are organized into multiple categories related to Race and Ethnicity, Sexual and Gender Minority, Gender, and Politics. The CDOH measures were created from a wide variety of data sources (e.g., IPUMS NHGIS, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Movement Advancement Project, and Myers Abortion Facility Database). Measures are currently available for states or counties from approximately 2015 to 2020. The Gender measures in this release include state-level abortion access, which reports the proportion of a state's females aged 15-44 who reside in counties with an abortion provider by year and month from 2009-2022. To work with the IPUMS CDOH data, researchers will need to first merge the NCHAT data to DS1 (MATCH ID and State FIPS Data). This merged file can then be linked to the IPUMS CDOH datafile (DS2) using the STATEFIPS variable.

The right to access safe abortion is a highly divisive global issue. Laws prohibit abortion by request in the majority of the world and countries such as the United States are implementing increasingly restrictive laws. It is therefore imperative that we better understand why these restrictions exist, how they affect those in need of healthcare, and how they have been contested. I examined these questions through the first study on abortion travel to focus on the Global South. While almost all unsafe abortions and deaths from unsafe abortions occur in the Global South, scholarship on abortion travel has overwhelmingly focused on the Global North (Sethna and Davis 2019). Through examining the barriers that prevent women from accessing safe abortions and the strategies they devise to resist these barriers, I explored how women's bodies and movement have been regulated by law and how this results in the mobility of women and abortion medication.

This research project had the following aims: 1) To explore how governmental regimes and non-legislative barriers prohibit safe, legal abortions in Latin America. 2) To understand how pregnant women and activists devise strategies, form networks, and resist these barriers to seek reproductive healthcare through travel and the transportation of abortion medication. 3) To highlight women's experiences of being forced to undertake travel in search of abortions and use their testimonies for change.

During this research I conducted interviews with activists and professionals with expertise on the topic of abortion in Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. The results of this research have been published in a number of peer reviewed journal articles and I am currently writing a book on my findings. It has also resulted in a significant focus on engaged research projects and the non-academic outputs include a graphic novel about abortion in Mexico City, podcasts about abortion in Peru, and a global abortion database about abortion access.

The primary findings of the research are: - the argument that states in Latin America are 'states of uncare' in relation to abortion - that abortion care activists provide spaces of care where that is denied by the state - the development of 'strategic ignorance' in abortion scholarship to better understand how abortion clandestinity is maintained - the development of a 'chemical geography' of the abortion pill misoprostol - a conceptual development of a 'geography of abortion'

The IPUMS Contextual Determinants of Health (CDOH) data series includes measures of disparities, policies, and counts, by state or county, for historically marginalized populations in the United States including Black, Asian, Hispanic/Latina/o/e/x, and LGBTQ+ persons, and women. The IPUMS CDOH data are made available through ICPSR/DSDR for merging with the National Couples' Health and Time Study (NCHAT), United States, 2020-2021 (ICPSR 38417) by approved restricted data researchers. All other researchers can access the IPUMS CDOH data via the IPUMS CDOH website. Unlike other IPUMS products, the CDOH data are organized into multiple categories related to Race and Ethnicity, Sexual and Gender Minority, Gender, and Politics. The CDOH measures were created from a wide variety of data sources (e.g., IPUMS NHGIS, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Movement Advancement Project, and Myers Abortion Facility Database). Measures are currently available for states or counties from approximately 2015 to 2020. The Gender measures in this release include the state-level poverty ratio, which compares the proportion of females living in poverty to the proportion of males living in poverty in a given state in a given year. To work with the IPUMS CDOH data, researchers will need to first merge the NCHAT data to DS1 (MATCH ID and State FIPS Data). This merged file can then be linked to the IPUMS CDOH datafile (DS2) using the STATEFIPS variable.

This table contains 147 series, with data for years 1970 - 2000 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography, area of residence of patient (19 items: Total; area of residence of patient; Non-residents of Canada; Canada; area of residence of patient; Abortions reported by American states ...), Type of facility (3 items: Induced abortions; hospitals and clinics; Induced abortions; clinics; Induced abortions; hospitals ...), Characteristics (3 items: Number of induced abortions; Rate per 1;000 females aged 15 to 44;Ratio per 100 live births ...).

Hospital-based recruitment of females seeking termination of pregnancy or post-abortion care at a Zambian government health facility. The research used an innovative mixed methods interview which combined quantitative and qualitative techniques in one interview. Each participant was interviewed by two research assistants (RAs). One RA led the interview, using a conventional interview schedule in the manner of a qualitative semi-structured interview, while the second RA listened and, where possible, completed the quantitative ‘data sheet’. When the first RA has completed the qualitative part of the interview, interviewer two took over and asked the participant any remaining questions not yet answered on the data sheet. This technique allowed us to capture both the individual fine-grained narratives, which are not easily captured in a questionnaire-type survey, especially on such a sensitive area, as well as survey data. Rather than conducting an in-depth qualitative interview and a survey, our method reduced the burden on the respondent, avoiding repetition of questions and reducing the time taken. The quantitative data was used to establish the distribution of out-of-pocket expenses, for women and their households, incurred using hospital-based safe abortion and PAC services. Qualitative data established the range of reasons why women sought abortion, and why they used or did not use safe abortion services, and explored the social costs and benefits of their trajectories, and the policy implications. Unsafe abortion is a significant, preventable, cause of maternal mortality and morbidity and is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. Unsafe abortion is the most easily prevented cause of maternal death. Post-abortion care (PAC) is a strategy to address the problem of the outcomes of unsafe abortion.This research aims to establish how investment in safe abortion services impacts on the socio-economic conditions of women and their households, and the implications for policy-making and service provision in Zambia. The microeconomic impact of out-of-pocket health expenditure for reproductive health and abortion care, have received little attention.The data available for sub-Saharan Africa are particularly scanty and poor quality. The approach is multi-disciplinary, with primary data collection of both qualitative and quantitative data, including a quantitative survey and in-depth qualitative interviews with women who have sought PAC, and policymaker interviews. Zambia's relatively liberal legal context, and the existence of PAC provision facilitates research on issues related to abortion which can have broader lessons for developments elsewhere in the region.The majority of women seeking abortion-related care in Zambia do so for PAC following an unsafe abortion, and have not accessed safe abortion services.This demands better understanding and analysis. Over a 12 month period, all women identified as having undergone either a safe abortion or having received PAC following an attempted induced abortion at a Zambian government health facility were approached for inclusion in the study. We did not interview women identified as having received PAC following a spontaneous abortion. Undoubtedly, some women claiming to have had a spontaneous abortion had in fact attempted to induce an abortion, and at times medical evidence suggested so, however we could not interview them about the attempt as they were not willing to disclose any information on an attempted abortion. As part of the research team we employed two midwives working on the obstetrics and gynaecology ward to act as gatekeepers, identifying suitable women for recruitment and asking them to participate in the study. The research used an innovative mixed methods interview which combined quantitative and qualitative techniques in one interview. Each participant was interviewed by two research assistants (RAs). One RA led the interview, using a conventional interview schedule in the manner of a qualitative semi-structured interview, while the second RA listened and, where possible, completed the quantitative ‘data sheet’. When the first RA has completed the qualitative part of the interview, interviewer two took over and asked the participant any remaining questions not yet answered on the data sheet. This technique allowed us to capture both the individual fine-grained narratives, which are not easily captured in a questionnaire-type survey, especially on such a sensitive area, as well as survey data. Rather than conducting an in-depth qualitative interview and a survey, our method reduced the burden on the respondent, avoiding repetition of questions and reducing the time taken.

BackgroundIn February 2011, an Ohio law took effect mandating use of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved protocol for mifepristone, which is used with misoprostol for medication abortion. Other state legislatures have passed or enacted similar laws requiring use of the FDA-approved protocol for medication abortion. The objective of this study is to examine the association of this legal change with medication abortion outcomes and utilization.Methods and FindingsWe used a retrospective cohort design, comparing outcomes of medication abortion patients in the prelaw period to those in the postlaw period. Sociodemographic and clinical chart data were abstracted from all medication abortion patients from 1 y prior to the law’s implementation (January 2010–January 2011) to 3 y post implementation (February 2011–October 2014) at four abortion-providing health care facilities in Ohio. Outcome data were analyzed for all women undergoing abortion at ≤49 d gestation during the study period. The main outcomes were as follows: need for additional intervention following medication abortion (such as aspiration, repeat misoprostol, and blood transfusion), frequency of continuing pregnancy, reports of side effects, and the proportion of abortions that were medication abortions (versus other abortion procedures). Among the 2,783 medication abortions ≤49 d gestation, 4.9% (95% CI: 3.7%–6.2%) in the prelaw and 14.3% (95% CI: 12.6%–16.0%) in the postlaw period required one or more additional interventions. Women obtaining a medication abortion in the postlaw period had three times the odds of requiring an additional intervention as women in the prelaw period (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.11, 95% CI: 2.27–4.27). In a mixed effects multivariable model that uses facility-months as the unit of analysis to account for lack of independence by site, we found that the law change was associated with a 9.4% (95% CI: 4.0%–18.4%) absolute increase in the rate of requiring an additional intervention. The most common subsequent intervention in both periods was an additional misoprostol dose and was most commonly administered to treat incomplete abortion. The percentage of women requiring two or more follow-up visits increased from 4.2% (95% CI: 3.0%–5.3%) in the prelaw period to 6.2% (95% CI: 5.5%–8.0%) in the postlaw period (p = 0.003). Continuing pregnancy was rare (0.3%). Overall, 12.6% of women reported at least one side effect during their medication abortion: 8.4% (95% CI: 6.8%–10.0%) in the prelaw period and 15.6% (95% CI: 13.8%–17.3%) in the postlaw period (p < 0.001). Medication abortions fell from 22% (95% CI: 20.8%–22.3%) of all abortions the year before the law went into effect (2010) to 5% (95% CI: 4.8%–5.6%) 3 y after (2014) (p < 0.001). The average patient charge increased from US$426 in 2010 to US$551 in 2014, representing a 16% increase after adjusting for inflation in medical prices. The primary limitation to the study is that it was a pre/post-observational study with no control group that was not exposed to the law.ConclusionsOhio law required use of a medication abortion protocol that is associated with a greater need for additional intervention, more visits, more side effects, and higher costs for women relative to the evidence-based protocol. There is no evidence that the change in law led to improved abortion outcomes. Indeed, our findings suggest the opposite. In March 2016, the FDA-protocol was updated, so Ohio providers may now legally provide current evidence-based protocols. However, this law is still in place and bans physicians from using mifepristone based on any new developments in clinical research as best practices continue to be updated.

The news is an efficient way to share information and plays an important role in shaping and reflecting cultural values and norms. However, research examining news consumption and abortion attitudes is limited. In this exploratory study, we analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of 886 US adults to assess whether self-reported frequency of news consumption—by news format (e.g., television, radio, newspaper, social media), news leaning (i.e., liberal, neutral, conservative), and total sum (i.e., total amount of consumption across leanings)—predicted abortion attitudes and complexity in attitudes. We conducted Poisson and negative binomial regression analyses controlling for demographic variables. We found that gender, political affiliation, Bible literalism, educational attainment, and abortion identity were significant predictors. While we did not observe a relationship between news format and abortion attitudes, we did find that the associations between news leaning and the total sum of news consumed varied across abortion identity. Our findings suggest that attitudes toward abortion may be differentially influenced by partisan news across abortion identity. After Dobbs v. Jackson, there is a need for advocates to tailor strategies to different sub-groups, promote media literacy, and encourage the use of diverse and balanced news sources to foster more informed views on abortion.

The Ukraine Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) is a nationally representative survey of 6,841 women age 15-49 and 3,178 men age 15-49. Survey fieldwork was conducted during the period July through November 2007. The UDHS was conducted by the Ukrainian Center for Social Reforms in close collaboration with the State Statistical Committee of Ukraine. The MEASURE DHS Project provided technical support for the survey. The U.S. Agency for International Development/Kyiv Regional Mission to Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus provided funding. The survey is a nationally representative sample survey designed to provide information on population and health issues in Ukraine. The primary goal of the survey was to develop a single integrated set of demographic and health data for the population of the Ukraine. The UDHS was conducted from July to November 2007 by the Ukrainian Center for Social Reforms (UCSR) in close collaboration with the State Statistical Committee (SSC) of Ukraine, which provided organizational and methodological support. Macro International Inc. provided technical assistance for the survey through the MEASURE DHS project. USAID/Kyiv Regional Mission to Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus provided funding for the survey through the MEASURE DHS project. MEASURE DHS is sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to assist countries worldwide in obtaining information on key population and health indicators. The 2007 UDHS collected national- and regional-level data on fertility and contraceptive use, maternal health, adult health and life style, infant and child mortality, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The survey obtained detailed information on these issues from women of reproductive age and, on certain topics, from men as well. The results of the 2007 UDHS are intended to provide the information needed to evaluate existing social programs and to design new strategies for improving the health of Ukrainians and health services for the people of Ukraine. The 2007 UDHS also contributes to the growing international database on demographic and health-related variables. MAIN RESULTS Fertility rates. A useful index of the level of fertility is the total fertility rate (TFR), which indicates the number of children a woman would have if she passed through the childbearing ages at the current age-specific fertility rates (ASFR). The TFR, estimated for the three-year period preceding the survey, is 1.2 children per woman. This is below replacement level. Contraception : Knowledge and ever use. Knowledge of contraception is widespread in Ukraine. Among married women, knowledge of at least one method is universal (99 percent). On average, married women reported knowledge of seven methods of contraception. Eighty-nine percent of married women have used a method of contraception at some time. Abortion rates. The use of abortion can be measured by the total abortion rate (TAR), which indicates the number of abortions a woman would have in her lifetime if she passed through her childbearing years at the current age-specific abortion rates. The UDHS estimate of the TAR indicates that a woman in Ukraine will have an average of 0.4 abortions during her lifetime. This rate is considerably lower than the comparable rate in the 1999 Ukraine Reproductive Health Survey (URHS) of 1.6. Despite this decline, among pregnancies ending in the three years preceding the survey, one in four pregnancies (25 percent) ended in an induced abortion. Antenatal care. Ukraine has a well-developed health system with an extensive infrastructure of facilities that provide maternal care services. Overall, the levels of antenatal care and delivery assistance are high. Virtually all mothers receive antenatal care from professional health providers (doctors, nurses, and midwives) with negligible differences between urban and rural areas. Seventy-five percent of pregnant women have six or more antenatal care visits; 27 percent have 15 or more ANC visits. The percentage is slightly higher in rural areas than in urban areas (78 percent compared with 73 percent). However, a smaller proportion of rural women than urban women have 15 or more antenatal care visits (23 percent and 29 percent, respectively). HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections : The currently low level of HIV infection in Ukraine provides a unique window of opportunity for early targeted interventions to prevent further spread of the disease. However, the increases in the cumulative incidence of HIV infection suggest that this window of opportunity is rapidly closing. Adult Health : The major causes of death in Ukraine are similar to those in industrialized countries (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and accidents), but there is also a rising incidence of certain infectious diseases, such as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Women's status : Sixty-four percent of married women make decisions on their own about their own health care, 33 percent decide jointly with their husband/partner, and 1 percent say that their husband or someone else is the primary decisionmaker about the woman's own health care. Domestic Violence : Overall, 17 percent of women age 15-49 experienced some type of physical violence between age 15 and the time of the survey. Nine percent of all women experienced at least one episode of violence in the 12 months preceding the survey. One percent of the women said they had often been subjected to violent physical acts during the past year. Overall, the data indicate that husbands are the main perpetrators of physical violence against women. Human Trafficking : The UDHS collected information on respondents' awareness of human trafficking in Ukraine and, if applicable, knowledge about any household members who had been the victim of human trafficking during the three years preceding the survey. More than half (52 percent) of respondents to the household questionnaire reported that they had heard of a person experiencing this problem and 10 percent reported that they knew personally someone who had experienced human trafficking.

BackgroundDespite a liberal abortion law, access to safe abortion services in South Africa is challenging for many women. Medication abortion was introduced in 2013, but its reach remains limited. We aimed to estimate the costs and cost effectiveness of providing first-trimester medication abortion and manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) services to inform planning for first-trimester service provision in South Africa and similar settings.MethodsWe obtained data on service provision and outcomes from an operations research study where medication abortion was introduced alongside existing MVA services in public hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province. Clinical data were collected through interviews with first-trimester abortion clients and summaries completed by nurses performing the procedures. In parallel, we performed micro-costing at three of the study hospitals. Using a model built in Excel, we estimated the average cost per medical and surgical procedure and determined the cost per complete abortion performed. Results are presented in 2015 US dollars.ResultsA total of 1,129 women were eligible for a first trimester abortion at the three study sites. The majority (886, 78.5%) were eligible to choose their abortion procedure; 94.1% (n = 834) chose medication abortion. The total average cost per medication abortion was $63.91 (52.32–75.51). The total average cost per MVA was higher at $69.60 (52.62–86.57); though the cost ranges for the two procedures overlapped. Given average costs, the cost per complete medication abortion was lower than the cost per complete MVA despite three (0.4%) medication abortion women being hospitalized and two (0.3%) having ongoing pregnancies at study exit. Personnel costs were the largest component of the total average cost of both abortion methods.ConclusionThis analysis supports the scale-up of medication abortion alongside existing MVA services in South Africa. Women can be offered a choice of methods, including medication abortion with MVA as a back-up, without increasing costs.

Although studies have documented challenges people encounter when attempting to access abortion care in the United States, there is little research on the perspectives and experiences of foreign-born individuals, who may encounter unique barriers to accessing care. Since lack of data may be due to difficulty recruiting this population, we explored the feasibility of using social media to recruit foreign-born individuals who have sought an abortion into interviews to share their abortion experiences. Our target population was limited to English and Spanish-speakers due to budget constraints. As this recruitment method was unsuccessful, we attempted to recruit our target population through the crowdsourcing website, Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk) to take a one-time survey on their abortion experience. Both online recruitment methods yielded a significant number of fraudulent responses. Although we aimed to collaborate with organizations that work closely with immigrant populations, they were unavailable to assist with recruitment efforts at the time of the study. Future abortion research utilizing online methods to recruit foreign-born populations should consider incorporating information on their target populations' use of online platforms as well as cultural views on abortion in order to develop effective recruitment strategies.

While there is a large body of research demonstrating that having an abortion is not associated with adverse mental health outcomes, less research has examined which factors may contribute to elevated levels of mental health symptoms at the time of abortion seeking. This study aims to develop and validate a novel tool to measure dimensions of psychosocial burden experienced by people seeking abortion in the United States. To develop scale items, we reviewed the literature including existing measures of stress and anxiety and conducted interviews with experts in abortion care and with patients seeking abortion. Thirty-five items were administered to 784 people seeking abortion at four facilities located in three U.S. states. We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to reduce items and identify key domains of psychosocial burden. We assessed the predictive validity of the overall scale and each sub-scale, by assessing their associations with validated measures of perceived stress, anxiety, and depression using multivariable linear regression models. Factor analyses revealed a 12-item factor solution measuring psychosocial burden seeking abortion, with four subdomains: structural challenges, pregnancy decision-making, lack of autonomy, and others' reactions to the pregnancy. The alpha reliability coefficients were acceptable for the overall scale (α=0.83) and each subscale (ranging from α= 0.82-0.85). In adjusted analyses, the overall scale was significantly associated with stress, anxiety and depression, and each subscale was significantly associated with each mental health outcome. This new scale offers a practical tool for providers and researchers to empirically document the factors associated with people's psychological well-being at the time of seeking an abortion. Findings suggest that the same restrictions that claim to protect people from mental health harm may be increasing people's psychosocial burden and contributing to adverse psychological outcomes at the time of seeking abortion.

The 1996 Uzbekistan Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) is a nationally representative survey of 4,415 women age 15-49. Fieldwork was conducted from June to October 1996. The UDHS was sponsored by the Ministry of Health (MOH), and was funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology implemented the survey with technical assistance from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program. The 1996 UDHS was the first national-level population and health survey in Uzbekistan. It was implemented by the Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan. The 1996 UDHS was funded by the United States Agency for International development (USAID) and technical assistance was provided by Macro International Inc. (Calverton, Maryland USA) through its contract with USAID. OBJECTIVES AND ORGANIZATION OF THE SURVEY The purpose of the 1996 Uzbekistan Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) was to provide an information base to the Ministry of Health for the planning of policies and programs regarding the health of women and their children. The UDHS collected data on women's reproductive histories, knowledge and use of contraception, breastfeeding practices, and the nutrition, vaccination coverage, and episodes of illness among children under the age of three. The survey also included, for all women of reproductive age and for children under the age of three, the measurement of the hemoglobin level in the blood to assess the prevalence of anemia and measurements of height and weight to assess nutritional status. A secondary objective of the survey was to enhance the capabilities of institutions in Uzbekistan to collect, process and analyze population and health data so as to facilitate the implementation of future surveys of this type. MAIN RESULTS Fertility Rates. Survey results indicate a total fertility rate (TFR) for all of Uzbekistan of 3.3 children per woman. Fertility levels differ for different population groups. The TFR for women living in urbml areas (2.7 children per woman) is substantially lower than for women living in rural areas (3.7). The TFR for Uzbeki women (3.5 children per woman) is higher than for women of other ethnicities (2.5). Among the regions of Uzbekistan, the TFR is lowest in Tashkent City (2.3 children per woman). Family Planning. Knowledge. Knowledge of contraceptive methods is high among women in Uzbekistan. Knowledge of at least one method is 89 percent. High levels of knowledge are the norm for women of all ages, all regions of the country, all educational levels, and all ethnicities. However, knowledge of sterilization was low; only 27 percent of women reported knowing of this method. Fertility Preferences. A majority of women in Uzbekistan (51 percent) indicated that they desire no more children. Among women age 30 and above, the proportion that want no more children increases to 75 percent. Thus, many women come to the preference to stop childbearing at relatively young ages when they have 20 or more potential years of childbearing ahead of them. For some of these women, the most appropriate method of contraception may be a long-acting method such as female sterilization, However, there is a deficiency of both knowledge and use of this method in Uzbekistan. In the interest of providing couples with a broad choice of safe and effective methods, information about this method and access to it should be made available so that informed choices about its suitability can be made by individual women and couples. Induced Aboration : Abortion Rates. From the UDHS data, the total abortion rate (TAR)the number of abortions a woman will have in her lifetime based on the currently prevailing abortion rateswas calculated. For Uzbekistan, the TAR for the period from mid-1993 to mid-1996 is 0.7 abortions per woman. As expected, the TAR for Uzbekistan is substantially lower than recent estimates of the TAR for other areas of the former Soviet Union such as Kazakstan (1.8), Romania (3.4 abortions per woman), and Yekaterinburg and Perm in Russia (2.3 and 2.8, respectively). Infant mortality : In the UDHS, infant mortality data were collected based on the international definition of a live birth which, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, is a birth that breathes or shows any sign of life (United Nations, 1992). Mortality Rates. For the five-year period before the survey (i.e., approximately mid- 1992 to mid- 1996), infant mortality in Uzbekistan is estimated at 49 infant deaths per 1,000 births. The estimates of neonatal and postneonatal mortality are 23 and 26 per 1,000. Maternal and child health : Uzbekistan has a well-developed health system with an extensive infrastructure of facilities that provide maternal care services. This system includes special delivery hospitals, the obstetrics and gynecology departments of general hospitals, women's consulting centers, and doctor's assistant/midwife posts (FAPs). There is an extensive network of FAPs throughout rural areas. Nutrition : Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is almost universal in Uzbekistan; 96 percent of children born in the three years preceding the survey are breastfed. Overall, 19 percent of children are breastfed within an hour of delivery and 40 percent within 24 hours of delivery. The median duration of breastfeeding is lengthy (17 months). However, durations of exclusive breastfeeding, as recommended by WHO, are short (0.4 months). Prevalence of anemia : Testing of women and children for anemia was one of the major efforts of the 1996 UDHS. Anemia has been considered a major public health problem in Uzbekistan for decades. Nevertheless, this was the first anemia study in Uzbekistan done on a national basis. The study involved hemoglobin (Hb) testing for anemia using the Hemocue system. Women. Sixty percent of the women in Uzbekistan suffer from some degree of anemia. The great majority of these women have either mild (45 percent) or moderate anemia (14 percent). One percent have severe anemia.

This study examines the psychological outcomes of therapeutic abortion during the period immediately preceding the U.S. Supreme Court decision invalidating restrictive abortion laws. The sample was drawn from women requesting abortions at a large urban hospital in the northeast. The participants were interviewed by a psychiatrist before the abortion, 24 hours after the procedure, and at six weeks and six months postabortion. One hundred and two women participated in the study, 84 of whom participated in all four interviews. Background data available includes demographic information, marital history, data on the parents and spouse, and emotional and medical history. Extensive clinical interviews were conducted at each of the four sessions. These covered the following topics: history of contraception, conception, and pregnancy; reasons for seeking abortion; ambivalence; past medical and emotional history; sexual behavior; object relationships; dreams; doubt, guilt, anger, shame, and general mood states; predictions; diagnostic formulations; and changes in activities and life situation of the subject. Participants also completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) at the first and fourth testing times, and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and Symptoms Rating Scale (SRS) at all four testing times. Some participants also completed the scales for femininity, socialization, and modernity from the California Personality Inventory (CPI) at the first and fourth meetings. The Murray Archive holds copies of all paper data from the study. The Murray Archive also holds doctors' reports of initial interviews with approximately 2,300 additional patients who requested therapeutic abortions between 1969 and 1974. If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data.