Hesperian Health Guides
Chapter 15: Abortion
If family planning methods fail, safe and legal abortion is a safety net.
Access to reproductive health services and information can help reduce the number of abortions.
How to use this chapter:
This chapter explains ways to safely end a pregnancy, what to expect during and after an abortion, complications that may develop, and the importance of preventing unsafe abortions. Abortion today is so safe that its biggest health hazard is when it is illegal, not widely accessible, and stigmatized. Information about abortion is useful for everyone who can become pregnant no matter what their gender identity is, and we include all of these people when we write about abortion.When someone does something to end a pregnancy, this is called an âabortion.â We use the word abortion in this book only to describe an action that is planned. The unplanned loss of a pregnancy we call a âmiscarriage.â
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This page was updated:22 Jan 2024