The paradox of access - abortion law, policy and misoprostol

Moland, Karen Marie; Haukanes, Haldis; Tadele, Getnet; Blystad, Astrid

doi:10.4045/tidsskr.17.0809

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(13 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Furthermore, this reference to spontaneous abortion and emergency contraception allows them to present a picture of abortion that is socially, legally and morally acceptable. These findings confirm other anthropological studies [18,19] that have highlighted how misoprostol changes the meaning of abortion by making it a morally acceptable practice. The attitude of women reminds us that the meaning of abortion depends on the beliefs, perceptions and experiences of individuals.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…This study fits into the perspective of anthropological studies on the use of misoprostol to induce abortion by looking at how the drug can reframe the meaning of abortion for some of its users [18,19,20]. For example, De Zordo [19] shows how, in Brazil, induced abortion was tolerated morally among women who use misoprostol to induce abortion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Many women also use misoprostol to self-induce abortions [13,14,15,16], replacing abortifacients such as herbal tea [17], potions, high doses of anti-malarial drugs, or bleach [4]. Misoprostol does indeed diversify abortion access sources, because its marketing in pharmacies and drug stores makes it possible to access the drug in secrecy [18]. Despite the changes that occur in abortion access due to the use of misoprostol, little is known about what the drug means to it users and how this meaning can in turn influence the meaning of abortion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Pill in the Lifeworld of Women in Burkina Faso: Can Misoprostol Reframe the Meaning of Abortion

Drabo

2019

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Burkina Faso, induced abortion is socially stigmatized, condemned, disapproved and legally restricted to cases of rape, incest, fetal malformation or endangerment to the life of the mother. Many women often resort to unsafe procedures to induce abortion, which puts their health at great risk. Misoprostol, which is officially restricted to the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage or post-abortion care, is also used illegally by women to terminate their pregnancies. Misoprostol represents an addition to the existing abortion methods, such as vacuum aspiration, which health workers have often used to induce abortion clandestinely. Many women also use misoprostol to self-induce abortions, replacing abortifacients such as herbal teas, potions, high doses of antimalarial drugs, or bleach. Despite the changes that occur in abortion access due to the use of misoprostol, little is known about what the drug means to its users and how this meaning can in turn influence the meaning of abortion. The aim of this paper is to describe how the use of misoprostol to terminate pregnancy contributes to changing women’s perception of the meaning of abortion. This paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between March 2016 and February 2017 in the city of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. By examining the relation between the use of misoprostol and the meaning that women give to abortion, this study found that women experience abortion either spontaneously or using emergency contraception with misoprostol. Through the experience of women, this paper claims that the meaning of abortion should be seen as a social construct and fundamentally rooted in individual practices and experiences rather than being subject to dichotomist global discourse.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Pill in the Lifeworld of Women in Burkina Faso: Can Misoprostol Reframe the Meaning of Abortion

Drabo

2019

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The WHO (2018) also recently promoted medical abortion with misoprostol as a “harm reduction strategy” that can replace risky abortion procedures worldwide. Meanwhile, several studies have documented that self-use of misoprostol obtained directly from pharmacies in jurisdiction where abortion access is socially or legally restricted reduces abortion-related morbidity and mortality because it replaces more harmful methods (Moland et al 2017, 21; though this has not yet translated into policy recommendations). Although misoprostol as a tool in reproductive health care is no longer such an outlaw, many barriers to access—some formal and some informal, some regulatory and some economic—remain.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Misoprostol: The Social Life of a Life-saving Drug in Global Maternal Health

MacDonald

2020

Science, Technology, & Human Values

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper is about a drug called misoprostol and its controversial clinical and social lives. Although originally developed as a prevention for gastric ulcers, in the 1980s, it developed an off-label reputation as an abortifacient. The drug’s association with clandestine abortion has profoundly shaped its social life as a marginal and suspect character in the realm of global maternal and reproductive health where it has the potential to prevent two major causes of maternal death––postpartum hemorrhage and unsafe abortion. The social life of misoprostol has also been shaped by the question of authoritative practice, that is, the question of who can deliver medicine. Both issues are about the specters of misuse of misoprostol: off-label, illegal, immoral, or by unlicensed providers. In this paper, I focus ethnographically on two women’s health nongovernmental organizations that have been conducting clinical testing and advocacy for the use of misoprostol for reproductive indications in global maternal health settings. Drawing on the notions of pharmaceutical activism and protocol feminism, I describe and analyze how the tools of evidence and authoritative practice have been reassembled in new networks of expertise toward the social justice goals of life, access, and dignity for women.

show abstract

“…Induced abortion is one of the mechanisms to deal with unwanted pregnancy. The university students in Ethiopia dealt with unwanted pregnancy by undertaking induced abortion to terminate pregnancy secretly to avoid stigma following premarital pregnancy [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnitude of Induced Abortion and Associated Factors among Female Students of Hawassa University, Southern Region, Ethiopia, 2019

Sahile

Beyene²

2020

Journal of Pregnancy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives. This study was aimed at assessing the magnitude of induced abortion and associated factors among students in Hawassa University, southern region, Ethiopia, 2019. Methods. An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among a total of 422 students selected on the bases of a probability simple random sampling method. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Analysis was made with SPSS 20. Descriptive summary and inferential statistics (binary logistic regression) were used with a 95% CI and P value of less than 5% as a level of significance. Findings were presented in tables, figure, and texts. Confidentiality of information was also secured. Results. The prevalence of induced abortion in the study setting was 68.7% (95% CI: 64.15%-73.2%). Participants who used emergency contraceptives had 12 times higher odds of undergoing abortion than those who did not use emergency contraceptives at AOR: 11.95, 95% CI: 5.615-25.326, P<001. Conclusions. A higher prevalence of induced abortion was observed in the study setting. Contraceptive use was the predictor of induced abortion identified. Concerned bodies were recommended to work on the identified determinant of induced abortion in the study setting.

show abstract

The paradox of access - abortion law, policy and misoprostol

Cited by 10 publications

References 13 publications

A Pill in the Lifeworld of Women in Burkina Faso: Can Misoprostol Reframe the Meaning of Abortion

A Pill in the Lifeworld of Women in Burkina Faso: Can Misoprostol Reframe the Meaning of Abortion

Misoprostol: The Social Life of a Life-saving Drug in Global Maternal Health

Magnitude of Induced Abortion and Associated Factors among Female Students of Hawassa University, Southern Region, Ethiopia, 2019

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About