Resumen : The objective of the study was to descrive the profile of women who declared having induced abortions, and also the profile of the women who have been submittted to sterilizations, according to the following variables : Age at first sexual relation; Marital status; Economic activity; Contraceptive method used at the time of the interview; Years of study; Number of children born alive and Race/Color. The data used were collected by the Survey on Reproductive Health, Contraception and Abortion, carried in 1993, in the City of São Paulo. The conducted analysis revealed that the profile of the women who have aborted opposes to that of the women which were sterilized. The first ones, recurred to abortion when faced with a non-wished pregnancy, and the others were submitted to sterilization, mainly to keep the number of children within the wished limit. In this way, the results prove that the offspring regulation, in Brazil, has been achieved trough a process called " perverse modernity ", which includes a pattern sequence of inadequate use of pills which lead to non desired pregnancies and illegal abortions and finally, the definitive sterilization, usually done through unnecessary cesareans. The women that are highly motivated to control their fertility recur to modern contraception, and also, when necessary, to induced abortion.
Notes : Inglés/anglais/English