Little change seen in abortion numbers in developing world

A recent study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that the rate of abortion in the developed world dropped by 19 points, from 46 to 27 for every 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44. But this rate has shown little change in developing countries.

The WHO, along with agencies focusing on women’s health, revealed the figures at Women Deliver 2016, a conference on women’s health and rights held recently in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. 

The data collected compared findings between 1990 to 1994 and 2010 to 2014, and showed that the rate of abortion in the developing world, including Thailand, had not dropped significantly. 

For instance, from 2010-14, 37 in 1,000 women opted for abortion in Thailand per year compared to 39 annually for each 1,000 in 1990-94. Similar non-significant declines were noted in other Asian sub-regions as well as in northern Africa. 

In Asia as a whole, abortions dropped slightly from 41 to 36 for every 1,000 per year, while in Southeast Asia the numbers fell to 35 in 2010-14 from 46 for every 1,000 in 1990-94.

“Some 88 per cent of the abortions were obtained in developing world,” Dr Cynthia Summer, an 

executive at the New-York based Guttmacher Institute, noted at the conference.

Due to population growth, the annual number of abortions worldwide has risen by 5.9 million to 56.3 million annually during the 2010 to 2014 period. 

“It’s extremely common if we look at 56 million abortions occurring every year. This means that one in every four pregnancies ends in abortion,” Bela Ganatra, a scientist at WHO, said at the press conference entitled “New Data: Incidence of Abortion Globally, Regionally and by Sub Region”. 

Experts looking into the reason behind the somewhat unchanged rate of abortions in developing countries learned that eight out of 10 abortions were caused by the unmet need for modern contraception. 

“Up to 38 million of adolescent women aged 15-19 in developing regions are sexually active and want to avoid pregnancy. Yet 23 million of these adolescents do not have access to contraceptives,” Ganatra said.

She said that the WHO was 

not looking at abortions in terms 

of rights, but was focusing more 

on the serious issue of women’s health. 

She noted that in 2010-14, 22,000 women had died from complications from unsafe abortions – which could have been prevented. 

The Guttmacher Institute stressed in its press release that the current use of modern contraceptives averts 3,000 deaths annually in developing countries. 

“Making it [abortion] illegal doesn’t prevent it from happening,” Ann Starrs, president and CEO of Guttmacher Institute, said.

Ensuring easy access to sexual and reproductive healthcare could help millions of women avoid unintended pregnancies and ensure access to safe abortion, she added.

Nozer K Sheriar, former secretary-general of India’s Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies, suggested that the world could take baby steps by not penalising women who opt for abortion. 

“This is not against the pro-life principle, as it is also pro-life – the life of the mother, that is,” he said.