title: Legislation, knowledge and attitudes of health professionals in Mexico regarding abortion.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to describe the knowledge and attitudes regarding abortion of a sample of health professionals in Mexico. In particular, we aim to explore their association with the practice of abortion and the care of post-abortion complications, taking into consideration the present legal framework in Mexico. The data come from an anonymous and computerized survey applied to participants attending a national meeting of gynecology and obstetrics in Mexico in 2009 (n=418). The attitudes of health professionals in relation to abortion play a key role in promoting access to both medical and surgical abortion services. We did not find a statistical association between living in a largely restrictive federal entity and the practice of abortions, which may be explained by the lack of knowledge that these survey participants had about abortion laws in their federal entity. This lack of knowledge about abortion legislation can hinder a woman's access to these services even when the legal framework such access.
authors.affiliation: Degree in psychology. Master in Health Sciences. Escuela de Salud Pública de México del Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos. nubia.nannery@gmail.com
authors.forename: Nubia Naneri
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: García-Núñez
authors.affiliation: Degree in psychology. Master in Health Sciences. Directorate of Reproductive Health, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública. Cuernavaca, Morelos.
authors.forename: Erika Elizabeth
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Atienzo
authors.affiliation: Physician. Specialist in gynecology and obstetrics. Master in Public Health. Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Boston.
authors.forename: Ila
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dayananda
authors.affiliation: Medical. Specialist in gynecology and obstetrics. School of Public Health, University of Washington.
authors.forename: Dilys
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000628:therapy; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Legislation; Abortion; Legal; Delivery of Health Care; Health Personnel