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Objectives Methods Results Conclusion Describe the characteristics and changes in the profile of women who sought care after experiencing sexual violence (SV) during the first six months of the COVID‐19 pandemic in a Brazilian city.This is a cross‐sectional retrospective study. Data from emergency care and legal abortion requests of women assisted at the Women's Health Care Center Hospital (School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, Brazil) due to SV experienced between March 23 and August 23, 2020 (Quarantine Group, QG), were collected and compared with data from the same period of the previous biennium (Comparison Group, CG). χ2 and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare groups; the significance level was 5%.Data for 236 women were analyzed; 70 women were included in the QG and 166 in the CG. In the QG, there was a restriction in the area of origin of women, with a higher proportion of women who lived in Campinas (P = 0.0007) and a higher frequency of chronic SV (P = 0,035). There were no rapes associated with the use of social media or apps in the QG, but 9.8% of women in the CG experienced rape associated with the use of social media or apps. There were higher rates of domestic violence (P = 0.022) and intimidation through physical force (P = 0.011) in the first two months.The COVID‐19 quarantine affected the profile of women who sought care after experiencing SV. The quarantine resulted in changes in the area of origin of patients, hindering access to health services and leading to higher rates of chronic and domestic SV, particularly in the first 2 months of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Italian Ministry of Health reports annually on activities related to abortion and fertility, providing quantitative data that looks ripe for analysis. Actors ranging from activists to medical providers to European courts have criticised the data as misleading, but the Ministry reports have not changed. In this piece, we bring together different perspectives on this data from inside and outside academia and offer guidance on how it should-and should not-be used in research.In this article, we collect a wide variety of publications ranging from civil society groups' reports to court decisions, academic articles and investigative reporting and harmonise the way they engage with the Italian Ministry of Health's data regarding abortion and particularly conscientious objection.Analyses rooted in the demographic and medical data about abortion seekers, the abortion rates over time, the different methods of abortion, etc are trustworthy and can be used to extrapolate levels of abortion access. This dataset on conscientious objectors systematically undercounts objectors, implying a false equivalence between people who do not object and people who actually work in an abortion service. We recommend that the Ministry report both the number of objectors and the number of medical doctors working in abortion services.The Italian Ministry of Health produces some valuable data about abortion, but conscientious objection is the key feature of abortion access in Italy, and this key datapoint is flawed. The Ministry could improve clarity and increase citizens' trust in government reports by adding data on the number of abortion providers., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Miscarriage and abortion require similar clinical management. Restrictions placed on abortion threaten the quality of miscarriage care, a policy spillover that affects many Americans. We combined vital statistics with life-table parameters to estimate that 1,034,000 miscarriages occur annually, including nearly 400,000 in US states with abortion bans. Attempts to restrict mifepristone access further threaten miscarriage management.

Purpose of Review: Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization revoked the decades-old precedent that pregnancy termination is a constitutional right. This review article explores the research landscape describing the consequences of overturning Roe v Wade for patients and providers., Recent Findings: To date, fourteen states have enforced total bans on abortion, with seven more restricting abortion access to levels not seen since before Roe. Dobbs has had immediate and swift consequences from clinical, social and professional perspectives, with increases in maternal mortality and demand for long-acting and permanent contraception, matched by declines in both access to methotrexate and applications to Obstetrics & Gynecology training programs., Summary: Eighteen million patients now live in states where abortion access is highly if not completely inaccessible. Abortion restrictions have profound implications beyond those desiring pregnancy termination; future research should continue to explore the ways Dobbs has affected clinical care, public health and social practices., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

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Over the last decade, activists in Latin America have expanded access to safe abortion through processes of accompaniment. Abortion accompaniment is characterised by activism and community-based strategies to facilitate access to, and safe use of, medication abortion, mainly outside clinical contexts. Drawing on findings from a survey of 515 activists who were part of Accompaniment Collectives in Latin America, this study describes the organisation of these collectives, barriers and facilitators to their activism, and how accompaniers perceive the impact and future of abortion accompaniment. Accompaniment Collectives are organised and flexible and operate in diverse social and legal contexts. The main goals of accompaniment are the normalisation and social decriminalisation of abortion culturally (84%); the social construction of autonomy (79%); and the protection of people's freedom (73%), life (71%) and health (67%). Activists in legally restrictive settings identified limited access to abortion medication (73%) and restrictive laws (71%) as the main barriers to accompaniment, while health care personnel objecting to abortion provision on grounds of conscience was most common in legally permissive settings (64%). Collectives have developed strategies to overcome such barriers to and expanding access to abortion care. Activists expect accompaniment to continue regardless of the legal status of abortion.

Competing Interests: We all contributed to the Criminalized Care: How Louisiana's Abortion Bans Endanger Patients and Clinicians(7) report and MH and PKS contributed to In Clinicians' Own Words: How Abortion Bans Impede Emergency Medical Treatment for Pregnant Patients in Idaho(10) brief. We declare no other competing interests.

Black women, particularly those with low-income, are projected to be the most negatively impacted group following the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v Wade. It is expected that the rate of increase in live births, as well as the rate of maternal mortality, will be steepest for Black women due to high rates of unmet needs for contraception, unintended pregnancies, poverty, barriers to legal abortion access, and systemic racism. Previous research has shown that the legalization of abortion in 1973 significantly improved educational and employment outcomes for Black women, in particular. The current study seeks to assess the perceptions of predominantly under-resourced Black women following the overturning of Roe v Wade. Eighteen Black women participated in one of five focus groups during the summer of 2022 and shared their reactions to the Supreme Court ruling. Using grounded theory, researchers generated the following themes: sexism via forced births, economic implications, and dangers of banned abortions. Based on participants' concerns resulting from the Roe v Wade overturn, policy implications are provided for improving the following systems: safety net, child welfare, and infant and perinatal mental health care., (© 2023. W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute.)

In September 2021, the Mexican Supreme Court issued a decision disallowing any federal or local judicial authority to indict someone for the offense of voluntary or consensual abortion. This decision also declared unconstitutional penalties imposed on medical personnel who facilitate or assist such procedures. Furthermore, the Court decided that limiting access to abortion in cases of rape to a specific time frame was disproportionate. Later on, in September 2023, the Supreme Court confirmed that absolute criminalization of abortion was unconstitutional and declared that the rule supporting criminalization in the Federal Penal Code was without effects. Consequently, healthcare providers who work in public federal health institutions cannot be criminalized for guaranteeing the right to abortion. This article reviews the reasons advanced by the Supreme Court to guarantee the right of reproductive self-determination, as well as the effects of both decisions beyond the decriminalization of abortion by Mexican federal and state legislatures. The paper also examines the scope and limitations of these rulings and identifies the remaining challenges regarding voluntary abortion procedures in Mexico., (© 2024 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)

In Nepal, abortion was legalized in 2002. Yet many women are denied abortion services. Women denied abortion services may either continue their pregnancies or find abortion care elsewhere. However, what is not known is the consequences on women, and their children after accessing abortion services or after being denied abortion services. This comment aims to understand the cause of death of women who sought abortion services between 2019 and 2020 and were enrolled in a longitudinal nationwide study of the consequences of legal abortion access in Nepal. Women were interviewed 6 weeks and every 6 months for 3 years after seeking abortion. During the follow-up interviews, the field research assistants were informed about the death of the clients. Once the death was reported, a trained senior research staff visited the deceased persons house and interviewed family members including husbands, maternal parents or in-laws to explore the cause of death. A total of nine deaths were reported between April 2019 and December 2022. Out of nine deceased women, four received abortions while five of them were initially denial abortion services. The majority of the deaths were due to suicide followed by tuberculosis. None of the deaths were caused by abortion or birth. Keywords: Death; Nepal; reproductive ages; womens health.

Relative to neighboring countries, Zambia has among the most progressive abortion policies, but numerous sociopolitical constraints inhibit knowledge of pregnancy termination rights and access to safe abortion services. Multistage cluster sampling was used to randomly select 1,486 women aged 15-44 years from households in three provinces. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to partition women into discrete groups based on patterns of endorsed support for legalized abortion on six socioeconomic and health conditions. Predictors of probabilistic membership in latent profiles of support for legal abortion services were identified through mixture modeling. A three-class solution of support patterns for legal abortion services emerged from LCA: (1) legal abortion opponents (∼58 percent) opposed legal abortion across scenarios; (2) legal abortion advocates (∼23 percent) universally endorsed legal protections for abortion care; and (3) conditional supporters of legal abortion (∼19 percent) only supported legal abortion in circumstances where the pregnancy threatened the fetus or mother. Advocates and Conditional supporters reported higher exposure to family planning messages compared to opponents. Relative to opponents, advocates were more educated, and Conditional supporters were wealthier. Findings reveal that attitudes towards abortion in Zambia are not monolithic, but women with access to financial/social assets exhibited more receptive attitudes towards legal abortion., (© 2024 The Population Council, Inc.)

Objective: In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released a landmark decision in which they held that the right to abortion is not protected by the U.S. Constitution, ending almost 50 years of federally legal abortion in the United States. Because prior research demonstrates linkages between reproductive health and substance use at multiple socioecological levels, in this special section, we present studies that take a broad scope to understanding how addictive behaviors and reproduction-related behaviors, options, and access to care interrelate across a variety of contexts., Method: In this introduction, the guest editors detail the impetus for this special section, provide a brief overview of the present studies, discuss policy and intervention implications, and suggest future research directions., Results: The five studies presented in this special section span a wide range of populations, methods, and substance use and reproduction-related issues, including reasons for past abortions among women with opioid use disorder, alcohol effects on men's condom use resistance, considerations regarding alcohol-involved rape on implementation of "rape exceptions" to abortion bans, the role of early exposure to substance use and sexual abuse on reproductive health outcomes, and the effects of exposure to abortion-related media coverage on alcohol use intentions following the Supreme Court decision., Conclusions: The studies in this special section highlight the ways in which substance use and reproductive health are inextricably intertwined. Recent and future changes in reproductive health legislation and policy underscore the critical need for continued empirical inquiry into these intersecting public health concerns. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: State-level abortion bans in the United States have created a complex legal landscape that forces many prospective patients to travel long distances to access abortion care. The financial strain and logistical difficulties associated with travelling out of state for abortion care may present an insurmountable barrier to some individuals, especially to those with limited resources. Tracking the impact of these abortion bans on travel and housing is crucial for understanding abortion access and economic changes following the Dobbs U.S. Supreme Court decision., Study Design: This study used occupancy data from an average of 2,349,635 (standard deviation = 111,578) U.S. Airbnb listings each month from October 1st, 2020, through April 30th, 2023, to measure the impact of abortion bans on travel for abortion care and the resulting economic effects on regional economies., Methods: The study used a synthetic difference-in-differences design to compare monthly-level occupancy rate data from 1-bedroom entire-place Airbnb rentals within a 30-min driving distance of abortion clinics in states with and without abortion bans., Results: The study found a 1.4 percentage point decrease in occupancy rates of Airbnbs around abortion clinics in states where abortion bans were in effect, demonstrating reductions in Airbnb use in states with bans. In the 6-month period post Dobbs, this decrease translates to 16,548 fewer renters and a $1.87 million loss in revenue for 1-bedroom entire-place Airbnbs within a 30-min catchment area of abortion facilities in states with abortion restrictions., Conclusion: This novel use of Airbnb data provides a unique perspective on measuring demand for abortion and healthcare services and demonstrates the value of this data stream as a tool for understanding economic impacts of health policies., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Context: Women, transgender men, and gender non-binary individuals facing unwanted pregnancy use online resources for abortion information. We sought to determine the informational and emotional needs that those seeking abortion information on Reddit expressed immediately following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (Dobbs) decision in the United States. Furthermore, we aimed to understand how the Reddit community addressed these needs., Methods: We collected posts on Reddit in the subreddit r/abortion that expressed informational or emotional needs related to the Dobbs decision created between June 24, 2022 and July 24, 2022. We identified posts using keywords including "roe," "rvw," and "trigger law" and then manually reviewed them to ensure relevance. We analyzed posts and their comments using qualitative descriptive analysis., Results: One hundred and ten posts met inclusion criteria. Original posters expressed needs for legal and medical information. Posters also expressed need for logistical support, including help accessing medication abortion, traveling out of state, and financing abortion care, and emotional support in general and resulting from fear of parental disapproval and shame relating to abortion stigma. Although responders to these comments addressed these needs by offering general support, accurate information, and reliable resources, intersecting and emotional needs sometimes went unaddressed., Conclusion: The Dobbs decision caused confusion and panic among abortion seekers requesting guidance on r/abortion, resulting in informational and emotional needs. While the r/abortion community actively addressed needs, inherent limitations of an online forum prevented some original posters from receiving the multifaceted support they needed., (© 2024 University of Ottawa.)

Context: In light of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the number of people who need to travel out of state for abortion is increasing as several states impose abortion bans. Better understanding the characteristics of patients who obtained out-of-state abortions before the decision can provide a reference point for future research and inform efforts to improve abortion access., Methods: We used data from the 2014 Abortion Patient Survey, administered by the Guttmacher Institute, to examine the prevalence and characteristics of patients obtaining nonhospital abortions outside of their state of residence. We examined bivariate and multivariable associations between selected characteristics and obtaining an abortion out of state., Results: Six percent of abortion patients traveled out of state for care. Among patients who obtained their abortion out of state, more than half (56.9%) were non-Hispanic (NH) white, 26.6% were non-Hispanic Black, and 10.2% were Hispanic. Two-fifths (43.9%) resided in the South, one-third (34.3%) resided in the Midwest, 15% resided in the Northeast, and 7% resided in the West. More than one-third (38.2%) had family incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL), and two-thirds (67.7%) paid out of pocket; only 3% used Medicaid. Profiles of out-of-state abortion patients differed from in-state abortion patients by all characteristics except age. In adjusted analyses, NH Black (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.61-0.96), NH Asian, South Asian, and Asian Pacific Islander (AOR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.20-0.67), and Hispanic (AOR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.33-0.64) patients had lower odds of traveling out of state compared with their NH white counterparts. Compared with those paying for their abortion with private insurance, those who paid out of pocket had higher odds of traveling out of state (AOR: 1.75; 95% CI: 1.29-2.37) and those paying with Medicaid had lower odds (AOR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.15-0.47)., Conclusion: Given the observed differences by race/ethnicity and method of payment for abortion, people of color and those without resources to pay out of pocket may especially benefit from efforts to support access to abortion care via interstate travel as an increasing number of states ban abortion., (Copyright © 2023 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, George Washington University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In 2022, the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization reneged the Constitutional right to an abortion. Many states now enforce laws that ban abortions. There are significant conflicts between state abortion laws and federal regulations that mandate proper assessment, treatment, and stabilization of patients who present for emergency care. This conflict places physicians in an untenable position when treating patients who have a pregnancy that endangers their life. In states that deem abortion a felony, transfer of these patients can extricate the physician, who is in a difficult position. Currently, it is the only reasonable option for hospitals and physicians who are trapped between conflicting state laws and Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act rules and regulations., (Copyright © 2023 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and ended federal protection of abortion rights. Given the drastic policy changes as a result of the ruling and high exposure to media related to abortion, women opposed to the decision may have experienced distress, which could trigger maladaptive coping strategies, such as alcohol use. The present research examined how consuming abortion-related media in the weeks following the Dobbs decision impacted alcohol use intentions among women of reproductive age residing in the 13 "trigger law" states that immediately restricted abortion access., Method: A sample of 196 women ( M age = 30.52, SD = 6.9) residing in trigger law states answered questions about abortion-related media consumption, views toward the Dobbs ruling, negative affect, and alcohol use intentions., Results: Consuming more abortion-related media predicted higher alcohol use intentions for women who opposed the ruling, but not those who were in favor of abortion restrictions., Conclusions: This timely study provides evidence of how the Dobbs ruling is associated with health ramifications beyond reproduction, yielding insights about how high media exposure to large-scale, distressing events may put those most affected-women of reproductive age in states that enacted new policies restricting abortion access-at risk for alcohol use. Findings highlight an imperative direction for future research as abortion restrictions continue to be spotlighted in U.S. media and state legislatures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction: In Romania, although the number of elective abortions (EAB) has decreased, the percentage is still quite high, given the large variety of contraceptive methods and their ease of use. The principal factors that influence the decision of EAB are family, education, and income. Our study aimed to determine to what extent the psychosocial factors had an influence on EAB. Material and Methods: A sociological survey-based study was conducted, including women who presented for abortion on request during the period 2015-2018 at the "Bega" University Clinic of Obstetrics-Gynecology, Timişoara. The study investigated the degree of information and the use of contraceptive methods at the moment of pregnancy’s termination request. The extracted latent constructs were women’s general perception of abortion, emotional involvement regarding the pregnancy, relationship and family context, knowledge about the abortion’s consequences, and social status. A structural equation model of EAB was derived, describing the direct (and indirect) effects among latent variables. Results: The EAB model showed significantly adequate fit (χ²(45)=382.262, GFI (Goodness-of-fit index) =0.91, CFI (Comparative Fit Index) =0.951, RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) =0.03, and p<0.001). The model also showed adequate fit with significant indirect effects on EAB of general perception of abortion (β=1.132, p=0.004), emotional involvement regarding the pregnancy (β=0.036, p=0.492), knowledge about abortion consequences (β=0.184, p=0.001), relation and family context (β=0.268, p=0.034), and social status (β=0.061, p=0.422). Conclusions: Results support the use of structural equation modeling for investigating the moderating and mediating effects, while simultaneously measuring latent constructs. Also, results showed that five main factors have an infleunce on EAB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A primigravida from a state of the USA with limited abortion access. • Parturient traveled to another state for the legal abortion of an anencephalic fetus. • It was not known she also had a cornual ectopic pregnancy. • Delivery resulted in uterine rupture and cesarean hysterectomy. • Significant morbidity may have occurred had the patient remained in her home state. In the changing legal environment of obstetric care in the USA, with laws in many states banning termination at all stages of pregnancy with narrow exemptions, healthcare providers are encountering cases in which risk to maternal safety is increased. This report presents a case of a 28-year-old primigravida with an anencephalic fetus who was legally unable to pursue termination in her home state. She traveled to another state in order to pursue safe and legal abortion of a non-viable fetus. Due to an unrecognized cornual ectopic gestation, the delivery resulted in uterine rupture, the need for hysterectomy, and significant morbidity in a patient with a strong desire for future fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In Romania, an increasing number of women are opting for abortion on demand, despite the large variety of contraceptive methods and their ease of use. Some of the factors that influence the decision of undergoing abortion are family, education and income. The aim of our study was to observe to what extent psychosocial factors had an influence on the decision of abortion on demand (DoAoD). Material and methods: Data were measured during a sociological survey-based study, including 603 patients who presented for abortion on request during the period 2015-2018 at the "Bega" University Clinic of Obstetrics-Gynecology, Timisoara. The study investigated the degree of information and use of contraceptive methods at the moment of pregnancy’s termination request. Based on measured data, the considered latent constructs were women’s general perception of abortion, emotional involvement regarding the pregnancy, relationship and family context, knowledge about the abortion’s consequences, and social status. A structural model was derived, describing the direct (and indirect) effects among latent variables. Results: The DoAoD model showed significantly adequate fit (χ2/df=1.53, GFI=0.91, CFI=0.98, RMSEA=0.05, and p

This paper offers a qualified defence of physician non-compliance with antiabortion legislation in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The paper examines two ethically troubling trends of post-Dobbs legislation: narrow and vague maternal health exemption clauses and mandatory reporting of miscarriages in jurisdictions where patients may criminal prosecution for medically induced abortions. It then examines and defends a professional obligation on the part of physicians to comply with the law. This obligation, however, is defeasible. The paper then argues that physicians' obligations to comply with the law is defeated when the law is illegitimate and following the law would constitute bad medical practice. Finally, it argues that the ethically troubling trends in post-Dobbs antiabortion legislation may meet these criteria., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: To assess changes in the monthly numbers of hospital-based abortions and outpatient early medical abortions in Victoria during January 2012 - March 2022, with a particular interest in the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic., Study Design: Population-based retrospective cohort study; time series analysis of Victorian Admitted Episodes Dataset (VAED) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) data., Setting, Participants: All admitted care episodes in Victoria during 1 January 2012 - 31 March 2022 with medical abortion as the principal diagnosis; all PBS claims for mifepristone-misoprostol (MS-2 Step) during 1 January 2015 (date of listing) - 31 March 2022., Main Outcome Measures: Changes in monthly numbers (with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of admissions for hospital-based and outpatient early medical abortions during the pre-pandemic period (January 2012 - March 2020), the first full month of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020), and the pandemic period (May 2020 - March 2022)., Results: The monthly number of hospital-based abortions declined in Victoria during the pre-pandemic period (slope, -2.92 [95% CI, -3.45 to -2.38] per month); the rate of decline was greater during the pandemic period (slope, -5.74 [95% CI, -10.5 to -0.96] per month). The monthly number of outpatient early medical abortions increased during the pre-pandemic period (slope, 5.94 [95% CI, 5.34-6.34] per month); it declined during the first month of the pandemic (slope, -26.4 [95% CI, -70.1 to -17.3] per month), but did not significantly change thereafter. The total monthly number of abortions during the pandemic period did not deviate markedly from the pre-pandemic median value. The pre-pandemic declines in monthly numbers of abortions in major city hospitals, in private hospitals, or at earlier than 14 weeks' gestation intensified during the pandemic period. During January 2015 - March 2020, 14 634 of 103 496 abortions were outpatient medical abortions (14%); during the pandemic period, 11 154 of 33 056 abortions were outpatient medical abortions (33%)., Conclusions: The use of outpatient early medical abortion has steadily increased in Victoria since the PBS listing of mifepristone-misoprostol, which helped ensure access to abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic. Outpatient medical abortions may eventually outnumber surgical early abortions in Victoria, but they are not always appropriate: hospitals will continue to be essential for comprehensive abortion care., (© 2024 The Authors. Medical Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AMPCo Pty Ltd.)

In June 2022, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Supreme Court decision ended the constitutional right to the professional practice of abortion throughout the United States. The removal of the constitutional right to abortion has significantly altered the practice of obstetricians and gynecologists across the US. It potentially increases risks to pregnant patients, leads to profound changes in how physicians can provide care, especially in states with strict bans or gestational limits to abortion, and has introduced personal challenges, including moral distress and injury as well as legal risks for patients and clinicians alike. The professional responsibility model is based on the ethical concept of medicine as a profession and has been influential in shaping medical ethics in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. It provides the framework for the importance of ethical and professional conduct in obstetrics and gynecology. Viability marks a stage where the fetus is a patient with a claim to access to medical care. By allowing unrestricted abortions past this stage without adequate justifications, such as those concerning the life and health of the pregnant individual, or in instances of serious fetal anomalies, the states may not be upholding the equitable ethical consideration owed to the fetus as a patient. Using the professional responsibility model, we emphasize the need for nuanced, evidence-based policies that allow abortion management prior to viability without restrictions and allow abortion after viability to protect the pregnant patient's life and health, as well as permitting abortion for serious fetal anomalies., (© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic in France, abortion was recognized as an essential service that cannot be delayed, and such care was therefore presumed to be maintained. The aim is to analyze the changes in the practice of abortion in 2020 to identify the consequences of the two lockdowns and the effects of the extension of the legal time limit., Methods: We analyzed the data collected by the French national health insurance system, which covers 99% of the population. All women who had an elective abortion, either surgical or with medication, in France in 2019 and 2020 were included in the study. Trend changes in abortions were analyzed by comparing the ratio of the weekly number of abortions in 2020 with the weekly number in 2019., Results: Both 2020 lockdowns were followed by a drop in abortions, particularly after the first and stricter lockdown. This may be explained not by an abrupt shutdown of access to abortion services, but rather by a decrease in conceptions during the lockdown weeks. The decrease was more marked for surgical abortions than for medication abortions in a hospital setting, and less so for medication abortions in non-hospital settings. Moreover, the proportion of the latter type of abortions continued to increase, showing the reinforcement of a previous trend., Conclusions: Our findings indicate that expanding the legal time limit for abortion, diversifying the settings where abortions can be performed and the range of abortion providers help to facilitate access to this fundamental reproductive care., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist, (Copyright: © 2024 Chaput et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The Maputo Protocol, adopted over 20 years ago, is a promising regional treaty for advancing gender equity and sexual and reproductive health and rights. This instrument has driven progress in women's health and rights across Africa, with much remaining to achieve to realize its full potential for women and girls, including access to safe abortion. The present paper shares the strategies and lessons from the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) reform centered on the domestication of the Protocol, specifically applying its commitments on abortion decriminalization and access. With a vision of addressing maternal mortality and rectifying the impacts of widespread sexual violence against women during war, abortion as a human right and health imperative was at the heart of the DRC's reform. Governmental commitment, broad coalition building, evidence generation, and an intersectional advocacy agenda were critical to overcoming opposition, stigma, and other challenges. This paper shares key learnings from the DRC's complex yet collaborative reform strategies and its processes. The strategy prioritized domestication of the Protocol for numerous reforms, including paving the path to legal abortion on the broad grounds of rape or incest, and saving women's health and/or life. With a commitment to maximizing quality, access, task sharing, and equity, progressive national comprehensive abortion guidelines were created alongside an implementation roadmap for accountability. The DRC's experience leveraging the Maputo Protocol's obligations to advance abortion rights and access offers valuable insights for consideration globally., (© 2024 International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)

Abortion laws are key in creating an enabling environment that facilitates the advancement of people's sexual and reproductive health and rights. Around 50 countries have liberalized their abortion laws in the last decades by adding new grounds allowing abortion. The road toward the expansion of legal abortion is a long, highly sensitive, and difficult process. The specific role of healthcare providers in influencing abortion law reforms has been scarcely studied. With the objective to better understand their (potential) roles, a qualitative study was conducted in 2021 focusing on three countries that had recently liberalized their abortion regulations: Argentina, South Korea, and Ireland. For each country, key informant interviews were conducted with actors in advocacy for legal change, the majority with healthcare providers. The study results indicate that healthcare providers can contribute to the expansion of legal abortion through their influence on public and legal debates. Healthcare providers were found to be scientifically credible and trustworthy. Their voice and argumentation counteracted anti-rights arguments and addressed information gaps, by providing specific clinical experiences and medical information. Healthcare providers amplified women's experiences through their testimonies and had entry points within governmental bodies, which facilitated their advocacy. These healthcare providers often functioned as individual operating obstetrician/gynecologists or general practitioners who were engaged in networks of health professionals or had previous advocacy experience. In a global context of social and political contention around abortion, extending the engagement of healthcare providers in law and policy deliberation on abortion appears to be useful. This requires recognizing the diversity of roles that healthcare providers can take up, creating a safe environment in which they can operate, equipping them with skills that go beyond the medical expert role and facilitating strategic partnerships that seek complementarity between multiple stakeholders, building on the uniqueness of each stakeholder's expertise., (© 2024 The Authors. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)

Forty-seven of the 203 countries with abortion laws detailed by the Center for Reproductive Rights have a health exception (HE) clause, inconsistent in both wording and implementation, even within countries. This narrative review sought to determine the understanding and implementation of the legally permissible HE in different countries, or states, to provide clarification and guidance for strategies that will maximize permitted access to safe abortion within the law and avoid undue delays that harm the lives and health of women and their families. A multimethod approach was used. The literature search for countries with HE laws, including physical, mental, and social health, and exceptions for threat to life, rape, incest, and fetal anomaly, returned sparse results. The review of emblematic cases that had reached regional courts on the grounds of human rights violation for failure to obtain legal abortion under the country's HE clause included some examples qualifying on multiple grounds. We interviewed 15 physician advocates from 14 countries about use of the HE in their countries. Informants from Latin America interpreted the HE to refer to physical, psychological, and social health. HE laws are common but confusing, with significant opportunities to improve access through clarification and implementation. Where multiple grounds permit ending a pregnancy, the least onerous exception for the patient is the most ethical. Examples of progress in Colombia and Ghana demonstrate successful approaches to broader HE implementation., (© 2024 The Authors. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.)

The loss of the federally protected constitutional right to an abortion is a threat to the already tenuous autonomy of pregnant people, and may augur future challenges to their right to refuse unwanted obstetric interventions. Even before Roe's demise, pregnancy led to constraints on autonomy evidenced by clinician-led legal incursions against patients who refused obstetric interventions. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , the Supreme Court found that the right to liberty espoused in the Constitution does not extend to a pregnant person's right to an abortion. With Roe's demise, the right to request specific types of care has been vitiated. The same argument underpinning that holding may now become ballast for attacks on the traditionally more robust right, the right to refuse. Here we discuss how the elevation of fetal and embryonic rights may lead to a cascade of medical intrusions and deprivations of liberty against pregnant persons, and offer an argument opposing these improprieties.

Objectives: While abortion is a common medical procedure in Germany, the number of abortion-providing facilities declined by 46% between 2003 and 2022. As existing data do not paint a complete picture of the factors influencing this decline, an understanding into the perspectives of health care professionals (HCPs) is necessary. We set out to examine attitudes of HCPs in Berlin, Germany toward different aspects of abortion to identify barriers that might prevent them from providing abortions., Study Design: We used a qualitative research design consisting of in-depth semistructured one-on-one interviews with 14 medical students and four gynecologists. We transcribed interviews verbatim and conducted qualitative content analysis., Results: Many interviewees perceived abortion as a taboo and legally ambiguous intervention. They feared stigmatization when talking about or providing abortions, especially by fellow students or religious family members. Few participants objected to abortion provision on religious grounds. Some medical students underestimated the safety of abortion and overestimated the potential for side effects and complications. Medical students obtained their knowledge about abortion from various sources, such as media, religious school education, or personal experience with abortion; the topic was rarely discussed in their medical education. To decide whether to provide abortions later, many students wished for detailed abortion teaching during medical school and residency., Conclusions: Fear of stigmatization, misconceptions on abortion, and religious beliefs reduced HCPs' willingness to perform abortions. Abortion education was widely valued by medical students and could address some of the barriers to abortion provision we found in this study., Implications: Universities and teaching hospitals should systematically teach about abortion to counteract misinformation and help normalize abortions among HCPs. Moreover, political decision-makers should take measures in order to destigmatize abortion, like an abortion regulation outside the Criminal Code in line with international public health recommendations., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The monumental reversal of Roe vs Wade dramatically impacted the landscape of reproductive healthcare access in the United States. The decision most significantly affects communities that historically have been and continue to be marginalized by systemic racism, classism, and ableism within the medical system. To minimize the harm of restrictive policies that have proliferated since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, it is incumbent on obstetrician-gynecologists to modify practice patterns to meet the pressing reproductive health needs of their patients and communities. Change will require cross-discipline advocacy focused on advancing equity and supporting the framework of reproductive justice. Now, more than ever, obstetrician-gynecologists have a critical responsibility to implement new approaches to service delivery and education that will expand access to evidence-based, respectful, and person-centered family planning and early pregnancy care regardless of their practice location or subspecialty., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study aimed to understand how the Dobbs decision impacted graduating resident physicians in Utah and to understand residents' perspectives on abortion access., Study Design: We invited all 2023 graduating residents at the University of Utah, from all specialties, to participate in this survey. We analyzed univariate relationships between respondent demographics and change of career plans post-Dobbs. We also performed a thematic analysis of free text responses., Results: We received responses from 85 residents (55% of all graduating residents from the University of Utah) representing 19 specialties. Six (7%) residents changed their practice location due to the Dobbs decision. Most residents supported and wanted to advocate for legal abortion. In a thematic analysis, many graduating residents do not want to live in an abortion-restrictive state., Conclusions: The Dobbs decision impacts physicians across all specialties, not just obstetrician/gynecologists., Implications: Future research into the impact of the Dobbs decision should include physicians of all specialties., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None.

Introduction: This study characterized the extent to which (1) financial barriers and (2) abortion care-seeking within a person's country of residence were associated with delays in abortion access among those travelling to England and the Netherlands for abortion care from European countries where abortion is legal on broad grounds in the first trimester but where access past the first trimester is limited to specific circumstances., Methodology: We drew on cross-sectional survey data collected at five abortion clinics in England and the Netherlands from 2017 to 2019 (n = 164). We assessed the relationship between difficulty paying for the abortion/travel, acute financial insecurity, and in-country care seeking on delays to abortion using multivariable discrete-time hazards models., Results: Participants who reported facing both difficulty paying for the abortion procedure and/or travel and difficulty covering basic living costs in the last month reported longer delays in accessing care than those who had no financial difficulty (adjusted hazard odds ratio: 0.39 95% CI 0.21-0.74). This group delayed paying other expenses (39%) or sold something of value (13%) to fund their abortion, resulting in ~ 60% of those with financial difficulty reporting it took them over a week to raise the funds needed for their abortion. Having contacted or visited an abortion provider in the country of residence was associated with delays in presenting abroad for an abortion., Discussion: These findings point to inequities in access to timely abortion care based on socioeconomic status. Legal time limits on abortion may intersect with individuals' interactions with the health care system to delay care., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Abortion is a controversial topic that has long been debated in the US. With the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, access to safe and legal reproductive care is once again in the national spotlight. A key issue central to this debate is patient privacy, as in the post-HITECH Act era it has become easier for medical records to be electronically accessed and shared. This study analyzed a large Twitter dataset from May to December 2022 to examine the public's reactions to Roe v. Wade's overruling and its implications for privacy. Using a mixed-methods approach consisting of computational and qualitative content analysis, we found a wide range of concerns voiced from the confidentiality of patient-physician information exchange to medical records being shared without patient consent. These findings may inform policy making and healthcare industry practices concerning medical privacy related to reproductive rights and women's health., (©2023 AMIA - All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and have no interests to declare.

The law ought to ensure that reproductive health services are accessible to all persons - married or unmarried - without subjecting them to heightened scrutiny or procedural requirements. However, the intersection of various laws and their impact on the willingness of medical professionals to offer abortion and reproductive health services to adolescents makes timely, safe, and affordable abortions difficult for adolescents to obtain. This challenge is exacerbated by a lack of public healthcare facilities, particularly in rural areas, and the overall restricted access to healthcare services during the Covid-19 pandemic. We delve into how legal uncertainties and gaps in multiple legislations pose obstacles for adolescents seeking abortion services, particularly in consensual sexual relationships. We specifically examine the unintended barriers stemming from the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO), which categorises consensual sexual relationships among adolescents as sexual offences without recognising their evolving sexual autonomy. Notably, POCSO includes a mandatory reporting provision, compelling the reporting of all sexual offences involving a "child" to law enforcement. This complexity is further compounded by the requirement for third-party authorisation for abortion by medical boards. The Indian courts, in rendering inconsistent, moralistic, and biased judgments on adolescent access to abortion services during the Covid-19 pandemic, contributed to the complexities.

In the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1972 and 2013, 100 leaders in obstetrics and gynecology wrote calls to action-in 1972 in anticipation of the Roe v Wade decision and in 2013 in concern over the increasing restrictions to abortion care. In this article, 900 professors support a call to action for reinstating federal protections for abortion. Over a year ago, the Supreme Court handed down the Dobbs decision, overturning nearly 50 years of precedent in retracting the constitutionally protected right to abortion. The medical community is already seeing the harms of this decision on the lives and health of our patients and on the ability to train upcoming physicians in this medically necessary evidence-based care. Further harms are anticipated, including negative effects on maternal mortality. The 900 professors of obstetrics and gynecology whose signatures appear at the conclusion of this article stand together in support of reproductive freedom, including the right to affordable, accessible, safe, and legal abortion care., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Previous research focused on popular US Supreme Court rulings expanding rights; however, less is known about rulings running against prevailing public opinion and restricting rights. We examine the impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization opinion, which overturned Roe v. Wade's (1973) constitutional protection of abortion rights. A three-wave survey panel (5,489 interviews) conducted before the leak of the drafted Dobbs opinion, after the leak, and after the official opinion release, and cross-sectional data from these three time points (10,107 interviews) show that the ruling directly influenced views about the constitutional legality of abortion and fetal viability. However, personal opinions were not directly influenced and perceived social norms shifted away from the ruling, meaning that individuals perceived greater public support for abortion. We argue that extensive coverage of opposition to overturning Roe v. Wade supported this shift. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization also caused large changes, polarized by party identification, in opinions about the Supreme Court., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Act, 2021, contains some progressive changes. However, survivors of rape will continue to go through mental as well as physical trauma to secure an abortion. We argue that the MTP Amendment Act, 2021, fails to address the rights of rape survivors adequately.

Objective: Since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal right to abortion, there is a heightened need to understand public opinion about the criminalization of people who attempt to end their pregnancies outside the formal healthcare setting, referred to as self-managed abortion (SMA). We assessed U.S. attitudes about whether three forms of SMA should be legal, reported or punished: 1) using abortion pills obtained outside the healthcare system, 2) using other medications, drugs, herbs, or by drinking alcohol, and 3) using traumatic methods (inserting an object in their body or hitting their stomach)., Methods: From December 2021 to January 2022, we administered a national probability-based online survey to English- and Spanish-speaking people assigned female (AFAB, ages 15-49) or male at birth (AMAB, ages 18-49) regarding their attitudes about criminalizing SMA, using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel. We estimated weighted proportions and conducted multivariable regression analyses to identify characteristics associated with support for SMA legality and punishment (reporting to authorities, paying a fine or going to jail)., Results: A total of 7,016 AFAB and 360 AMAB completed the survey. People were less likely (p < .05) to agree that SMA using abortion pills should be illegal (34% of AFAB and 43% of AMAB) than other forms of SMA (36-48%), although over one-fifth were unsure (AFAB, 20-23% and AMAB, 24-27%). People were less likely to agree SMA using abortion pills should be criminalized than SMA using other drugs, medications, herbs, alcohol or by using traumatic methods. In multivariable analyses, AMAB and Christian religion were associated with agreeing that SMA using abortion pills should be illegal; people who identified as Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity and experienced medical mistreatment were less likely to agree SMA with medication abortion pills should be illegal., Conclusions: Public support for criminalizing SMA is complex and varied by SMA method and form of punishment., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)