Abstract : Women in Egypt are legally permitted to have an induced abortion only when two physicians certify that the pregnancy presents a danger to the health or life of the mother. However, despite this legislated restriction, the available data indicate that abortion is widely practiced in the country. Legal, religious, economic, and health care policy influence the debate of and access to abortion in Egypt. Interviews were conducted with 18 Egyptian women in the Cairo area who sought abortions, 16 of whom were married and 17 of whom were Muslim. Altogether, the women had sought to induce a total of 26 abortions, of which 7 were induced by indigenous means and 15 were performed by physicians, for a total of 22 completed procedures. The women described the existence and use of a wide range of abortion methods which varied in safety and cost. The following approaches to induced abortion were identified in ascending order of safety, going from the least to most safe: indigenous methods, biomedical abortions at clandestine clinics, and biomedical abortions provided by private gynecologists. While wealthy women have the funds with which to buy the most safe, gynecologist-provided abortions, poor women must resort to the less safe abortion providers and methods.
Source : Source : Social Science Medicine.