A decisão de abortar: processo e sentimentos envolvidos

Abstract

In Brazil, induced abortion is considered a crime in the majority of cases, the result being that there is little official data on the subject. Little is known about the conditions under which abortions are induced This research was designed to shed light on the characteristics of the women who had had an abortion and to study the reasons why and conditions under which it occurred. The sample consisted of all employees (7,359) and students (2,231) in a university program in S o Paulo who were mailed a self-administered survey. Accompanying the questionnaire was a letter and self-addressed stamped envelope. 27% of the employees and 42% of the students returned the questionnaires. Of these, 1,314 employees and 138 students had had at least one pregnancy. The results presented in this study show that 465 of the employees and students ar some point had thought of having an abortion. They were divided into two groups: those who had had an abortion and those who had nos. The objective was to analyze the association of some characteristics of the women with their decision to have/not have an abortion and how they felt when faced with this decision. The proportion of women who had had an abortion was significantly lower among married women than singles. A larger percentage of women who had talked with a friend and/or husband/partner/boyfriend had decided to have an abortion than those who had talked to a parent or had not talked to anyone. More women who said they were not prepared to raise/educate a child had had an abortion as compared to those giving other reasons. Almost half of the women undergoing an abortion said that they felt bad emotionally and physically afterwards. Among those who had not had an abortion, almost two-fifths reported that they felt good, were happy, relieved, and did not regret their decision. The conclusion drawn from the population studied was that emotional and social factors played a significant role in the decision-making process for women considering an abortion.

Características de abortamentos atendidos em uma maternidade pública do Município da Serra - ES

“…Na maioria das vezes, a sociedade encara a decisão pela interrupção da gestação como uma decisão egoísta da mulher, desafiando códigos legais e morais 29 ; entretanto, sabe-se que o abortamento leva a grande sofrimento físico e emocional. Osis e colaboradores 26 , ao estudarem a razão que levou mulheres a desistirem de abortar, destacam que o medo de serem presas não foi citado; os motivos citados foram relacionados às conseqüências de âmbito físico, psicológico e moral.…”

Abortion: a review of women's perception in relation to their partner's reactions in two Brazilians cities

“…A relative could make such a decision difficult, gi- ven the cultural importance of pregnancy and the legislation in force in Brazil. 16 One study 17 indicates that women that only talk with friends about the pregnancy and the possibility of abortion interrupted the pregnancy more than those who contacted other people. The hypothesis is that, while friends tend to support other life projects, closer family tend to value motherhood and influence maintaining the pregnancy.…”

“…Although friends are sought out when discovering the pregnancy, the woman's decision on the future of the pregnancy varies according to the reactions of their partner or how they imagine their partners would react. [17][18][19] In this study, the partner not knowing about the pregnancy was associated with induced abortion, which could indicate either their lack of involvement or indicate the woman's choice not to include him at the time. The presupposition of male rejection of unplanned or unwanted pregnancy makes many women choose to assume the responsibilities and the decisions, and not inform their partner about the pregnancy.…”

“…On the other hand, women's conversations frequently complain about the absence of moral and financial support by the partner, rejecting continuation of motherhood and the creation of children without their participation. [17][18][19] Therefore, even if women take a definitive decision to continue the pregnancy or not, the role performed by the partner is fundamental at this time, as female choices are based on the expectations they have in relation to the male attitude in recognizing the child or not, for which reason many report that the abortion could have been avoided by the partner.…”

O dilema de uma prática: experiências de aborto em uma maternidade pública de Salvador, Bahia

“…The decision to abort is never taken alone and it is an experience that is not easy to face, as other studies in Brazil have shown (Costa et al, 1995;Ramirez-Galvez, 1999;Menezes, 2006;Heilborn et al, 2012;Silveira, 2014). When a woman reaches the conclusion that an abortion is "the only way out," she has already considered a variety of negative issues, such as: the fact that abortion is a crime; the difficulties involved in trying to find the means to provoke an abortion; the opposition from partners, relatives, and others; information that the procedures adopted can cause some sort of damage to one's health.…”