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  • Title: Illegal abortion in Latin America.
    Author: Viel B.
    Journal: IPPF Med Bull; 1982 Aug; 16(4):1-2. PubMed ID: 12264354.
    Abstract:
    In Latin American countries abortion on demand is legal only in Cuba and must be performed there in hospitals within the 1st 12 weeks of pregnancy. After the 1st trimester, it can be performed only for medical reasons. With regard to the other 18 Latin American countries, abortion is illegal in 2 of them even for saving the life of the pregnant women. In 9 countries therapeutic abortion is permitted only to save the woman's life. It is allowed in 4 countries in the case of severe disease that will be aggravated if the pregnancy continues. In the 3 remaining countries, in addition to medical reasons, it is legal if pregnancy is the consequence of incest or rape. Despite the law, induced abortion is often performed. The complications of illegal abortion are reviewed along with mortality and morbidity and abortions in adolescents. In Colombia in 1974, 58,717 women were hospitalized for complications of abortion. 42,160 women were hospitalized in Chile in 1974 with the same diagnosis. As Colombia and Chile both have family planning programs and effecive contraceptives are easily obtained, the rate could be even higher in those countries without programs or contraceptive availability. From surveys conducted in these 2 countries, it may be concluded that only 1 out of 3 induced abortions is complicated and requires hospitalization. The hospitalization for complications of abortion/1000 women of fertile age in Colombia and Chile suggests that there is an annual average of 15 hospitalized cases/1000 women of fertile age throughout Latin America. Presuming reasonable accuracy for these surveys, the rate of induced abortion in the entire continent can be estimated to be at least 45/1000 women of fertile age. From this, without considering Cuba, a conservative estimate of 3.4 million illegal induced abortions are performed annually in Latin America. It seems that illegal abortions are performed at an even higher rate than that observed in countries where abortion is legal and effective contraceptives are easily available. According to Tietze, in the U.S. between 1968 and 1972 the case fatality rate from legal abortion was only 0.1/million. When it is performed illegally in pregnant women who cannot pay a competent professional, the case fatality rate in Chile, considering only women who died in hospital, is 100 times greater and represents 38% of total maternal deaths. The treatment of complicated cases also represents a high cost for the hospitals. In the hospitals, the proportion of complicated abortions in women under age 20 is usually low; it varies from 11-20%. Chilean statistics show that in 1980 a total of 26.8% of births were illegitimate, and among those born to mothers under age 20 this was 44.1%. Needed are epidemiological studies on an international basis that would allow comparability and show ways to prevent the adverse consequences of illegal abortion.
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