Abortion in Turkey: women in rural areas and the law

Abstract

Worldwide, an estimated 529 000 girls and women die of pregnancy-related causes each year, about one every minute, and many times that number suffer long-term injuries and disabilities. Ninety-nine percent of all maternal deaths occur in the developing world.1–5 Direct causes of pregnancy-related deaths worldwide are: Abortion is a sensitive and contentious issue with religious, moral, cultural, and political dimensions. It is also a public health concern in many parts of the world. More than one-quarter of the world's people live in countries where the procedure is prohibited or permitted only to save the woman's life. Yet, regardless of legal status, abortions still occur, and nearly half of them are performed by an unskilled practitioner or in less than sanitary conditions, or both. WHO defines an unsafe abortion as ‘a procedure for terminating an unwanted pregnancy either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking the minimal medical standards, or both’. When abortion is performed by qualified people using correct techniques in sanitary conditions, it is very safe. Worldwide, nearly one in 10 pregnancies ends in unsafe abortion. But this is a global estimate, combining countries where abortion is safe and legal with those where it is restricted and often unsafe. In low-income countries, women have an average of one unsafe abortion during their reproductive lives.3,6–8 Turkey is currently the most populous country in the Middle East and one of the 20 most populous countries in the world. Women constitute 36.1 million of the population, and half of this number is of reproductive age. Each year approximately 1.5 million births take place and 728–1000 mothers die due to pregnancy-, delivery-, and birth-related …