Second trimester abortions in India.
This article gives an overview of what is known about second trimester abortions in India, including the reasons why women seek abortions in the second trimester, the influence of abortion law and policy, surgical and medical methods used, both safe and unsafe, availability of services, requirements for second trimester service delivery, and barriers women experience in accessing second trimester services. Based on personal experiences and personal communications from other doctors since 1993, when I began working as an abortion provider, the practical realities of second trimester abortion and case histories of women seeking second trimester abortion are also described. Recommendations include expanding the cadre of service providers to non-allopathic clinicians and trained nurses, introducing second trimester medical abortion into the public health system, replacing ethacridine lactate with mifepristone-misoprostol, values clarification among providers to challenge stigma and poor treatment of women seeking second trimester abortion, and raising awareness that abortion is legal in the second trimester and is mostly not requested for reasons of sex selection.
Dalvie
Suchitra S
SS
Asia Safe Abortion Partnership, Mumbai, India. suchidoc@hotmail.com
D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011640:Public Policy; D012307:Risk Factors