Résumé : Discussions with several groups of low-income, middle-aged women in various countries of Latin America showed that most disapproved of abortion. In the course of group discussions about the motives of women who seek abortions and the psychological and sanitary conditions under which abortion occurs, however, their disapproval became less categorical. They began to accept the need to decriminalize abortion in order to protect women. The majority, strongly influenced by the Catholic Church, believed that human life begins at conception. Others disapproved of abortion because they feared it would be used as a birth control method and would encourage promiscuity. Most disapproved of abortion for single women attempting to escape family or social censure of unmarried motherhood. Fear of health effects or death from abortion and fear of divine punishment were also mentioned. Recognition of the anguish and pain suffered by women deciding to seek abortion and the difficulty of providing for the material and other needs of many children were factors that led to reconsideration of the wholesale condemnation of abortion. The women realized that such condemnations never take the woman's circumstances into account. Some of the women felt that aborting an unwanted pregnancy would be preferable to abandoning or neglecting an unwanted child. Many of the women came to feel that abortion should be legalized at least under some circumstances.
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