de Souza e Silva, Rebeca

Patterns of induced abortion in Vila Madalena, Sao Paulo, Brazil
de Souza e Silva, Rebeca - 1993 - [Unpublished] 1993. Presented at the International Population Conference / Congres International de la Population, Montreal Canada, 26

Mots clés : adolescents; aspects psychologiques; avortement illégal; avortement provoqué; caractéristiques de la population; célibataires; classes sociales; comportement reproductif; comportements; comportements reproductifs; contraception; contraception d'urgence; culture; déterminants; éducation au planning familial; enquête; enquête méthodologique; enquête sur l'avortement; enquêtes; enquêtes par échantillon; état matrimonial; études; facteurs âge; facteurs démographiques; facteurs économiques; facteurs psychologiques; facteurs socio-économiques; famille; famille et ménage; fécondité; femme; grossesse non désirée; jeunesse; mesure; méthodologie; niveau de revenu; nuptialité; planification familiale; planning familial; population; population urbaine; questionnaires; revenu; taille de la famille; taille désirée de la famille; taux d'avortement; technique de réponse aléatoire; utilisation de la contraception
Pays / Régions : Amérique du Sud; Amérique latine; Brésil; Pays en développement

Résumé : In 1987, a researchers used the randomized response technique and the conventional approach to investigate the incidence of induced abortions in 1986 among 2000 women, 15-49 years old, living in the upscale subdistrict of Vila Madalena in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Abortion is illegal in Brazil, except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape.) Their mean incomes were 7-9.8 times higher than the minimum wage. fertility among 40-44 year old women was 2.4 children. Overall fertility was 1.3 (2.1 for nonsingle women). 80% of women who experienced an induced abortion did not admit having an abortion when questioned directly. Single women had the second lowest abortion rate (95.8/1000 vs. 173.1 for widows and 447.4 for separated or divorced women) and lowest pregnancy rate (23.9% vs. 79.7% for women in a consensual union) but the highest rate of abortion/pregnancy (22.2% vs. 17.9% for separated or divorced women and 3.8 for married women). These findings indicated that women in unstable relationships tended to experience unwanted pregnancies. Overall, as family size increased, the induced abortion rate decreased (16.5% for parity 1, 6.8% for parity 2, and 1.3% for parity = or > 4). Yet, women who had more children than desired family size tended to resort to abortion. Nulliparous women (13.4% of all women) had a high rate of pregnancies ending in induced abortion (54.9%), while they had a very low rate of abortions (91.7/1000). Thus, in nulliparous women, the likelihood of a pregnancy being terminated is great. The greater the resistance to accepting induced abortion, the smaller the frequency of induced abortions. Nevertheless, induced abortion was a principal means of regulating fertility. 15-19 year old women had the highest rate of abortions/total pregnancies (23.1%). Women who used contraceptives, particularly ineffective ones, had a higher abortion rate than nonusers 917.2% vs. 6.1%). These results showed that removal of abortion restrictions would allow more abortions to occur. Brazil should liberalize the abortion law to grant women their reproduction rights as well as to contain mass sterilization practices occurring in Brazil.

Notes : Inglés/anglais/English, nbsp;Abstract : Popline (http://db.jhuccp.org/popinform/basic.html) - PIP 084789