After a period of substantial decline, the global abortion rate has stalled but unsafe abortions are on the rise around the world, according to new research from the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization.

From 2003 to 2008, the abortion rate per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15 to 44) only changed slightly, from 29 to 28 per 1,000 women. But the proportion of unsafe abortions that took place across the world rose 44 percent in 1995 to 49 percent in 2008.

"The declining abortion trend we had seen globally has stalled, and we are also seeing a growing proportion of abortions occurring in developing countries, where the procedure is often clandestine and unsafe. This is cause for concern," says Gilda Sedgh, lead author of the study and a senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute. "This plateau coincides with a slowdown in contraceptive uptake. Without greater investment in quality family planning services, we can expect this trend to persist."

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.