Paxman J M, Rizo A, Brown L, Benson J
Boston University School of Public Health, MA.
Stud Fam Plann. 1993 Jul-Aug;24(4):205-26.
In Latin America, induced abortion is the fourth most commonly used method of fertility regulation. Estimates of the number of induced abortions performed each year in Latin America range from 2.7 to 7.4 million, or from 10 to 27 percent of all abortions performed in the developing world. Because of restrictive laws, nearly all of these abortions, except for those performed in Barbados, Belize, and Cuba, are clandestine and unsafe, and their sequelae are the principal cause of death among women of reproductive age. One of every three to five unsafe abortions leads to hospitalization, resulting in inordinate consumption of scarce and costly health-system resources. Increased contraceptive prevalence and restrictive abortion laws have not decreased clandestine practices. This article addresses how the epidemic of unsafe abortion might be challenged. Recommendations include providing safer outpatient treatment and strengthening family planning programs to improve women's contraceptive use and their access to information and to safe pregnancy termination procedures. In addition, existing laws and policies governing legal abortion can be applied to their fullest extent, indications for legal abortion can be more broadly interpreted, and legal constraints on abortion practices can be officially relaxed.
在拉丁美洲，人工流产是第四大最常用的生育调节方法。据估计，拉丁美洲每年进行的人工流产数量在270万至740万之间，占发展中国家人工流产总数的10%至27%。由于法律限制，除了在巴巴多斯、伯利兹和古巴进行的人工流产外，几乎所有这些人工流产都是秘密且不安全的，其并发症是育龄妇女死亡的主要原因。每三到五次不安全人工流产中就有一次会导致住院治疗，这导致稀缺且昂贵的卫生系统资源被过度消耗。避孕普及率的提高和严格的堕胎法律并没有减少秘密堕胎行为。本文探讨了如何应对不安全堕胎的流行问题。建议包括提供更安全的门诊治疗，加强计划生育项目，以提高妇女的避孕措施使用率，以及她们获取信息和安全终止妊娠程序的机会。此外，现行的合法堕胎法律和政策可以得到充分执行，合法堕胎的指征可以得到更广泛的解释，对堕胎行为的法律限制可以正式放宽。
