Lauro Don
Afr J Reprod Health. 2011 Mar;15(1):13-23.
Based on available evidence, this review article posits that contemporary use of abortion in sub-Saharan Africa often substitutes for and sometimes surpasses modern contraceptive practice. Some studies and some data sets indicate that this occurs not only among adolescents but also within older age groups. In several sub-Saharan cities, particularly where contraceptive use is low and access to clinical abortion is high (though largely illegal), abortion appears to be the method of choice for limiting or spacing births. Even in rural areas, women may regularly resort to abortion, often using extremely unsafe procedures, instead of contraception. Available data seem to indicate that relatively high levels of abortion correlate with low access to modern contraception, low status of women, strong sanctions against out-of-wedlock pregnancy, traditional tolerance of abortion, and availability of modern abortion practices. Abortion has been and will likely continue to be used to plan families within much of sub-Saharan Africa.
基于现有证据，这篇综述文章认为，在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，当代堕胎行为常常替代了现代避孕措施，有时甚至超过了现代避孕措施的使用。一些研究和数据集表明，这种情况不仅发生在青少年中，也出现在年龄较大的群体中。在撒哈拉以南的几个城市，尤其是避孕措施使用率低且临床堕胎渠道多（尽管大多属非法）的地方，堕胎似乎是限制生育间隔的首选方法。即使在农村地区，妇女也可能经常求助于堕胎，而且往往采用极其不安全的方式，而不是选择避孕。现有数据似乎表明，较高的堕胎率与现代避孕措施获取渠道少、女性地位低下、对非婚怀孕的严厉制裁、对堕胎的传统容忍态度以及现代堕胎手段的可得性有关。在撒哈拉以南非洲的大部分地区，堕胎过去一直被用于家庭生育计划，而且可能还会继续如此。
