Women's experiences of and perspectives on abortion at public facilities in Mexico City three years following decriminalization

Abstract

The quantitative analysis suggests that although most women were satisfied with the services, some areas were identified as requiring improvement. The IDI data suggest that women wanted counseling to better address psychosocial needs and allow for discussion on a wider range of contraceptive methods.

Decriminalization of Abortion in Mexico City: The Effects on Women’s Reproductive Rights

“…17 The rate of acceptance of postabortion contraception has been over 80% in several studies, 17,18 with high percentages of women accepting IUDs, between 42% and 63%, depending on the study. 17,18 The high rate of acceptance of postabortion IUDs is a positive finding given that IUDs are among the most long-acting and effective methods for preventing unintended pregnancy. This may be an underlying factor contributing to the low rate of repeat abortions.…”

Expanding access to medical abortion: Perspectives of women and providers in developing countries

“…• Providers' and medical students' knowledge and opinions about MA (Brazil [15], China [16], India [17], and Turkey [18]). • Access to MA from the perspectives of women (Bolivia [19], India [20], Mexico [21], and Nepal [22]). In the studies from Bolivia and India, women living in the general community were interviewed regarding their knowledge and opinions about different abortion methods and about local abortion providers.…”

“…The latter inquired about women's experience as a means of assessing client satisfaction with the public abortion services and to identify areas where the services needed improvement. • Postabortion contraceptive uptake and continuation of use among women who underwent a medical or a surgical abortion (India [23], Mexico [21]). …”

“…However, one of the studies from India [23] and the study from Mexico City [21] report that, in settings that provide good-quality services, including counseling and a choice of contraceptive methods, the large majority of women accepted contraception after either MA or manual vacuum aspiration, with little or no difference between the groups in rates of contraceptive uptake. The study from India reports very high rates of continuation up to at least 6 months after MA or surgical abortion [23].…”

Abortion Legalization and Childbearing in Mexico

“…The change in policy turned Mexico City, 2 with a population of 8.8 million people, into the largest jurisdiction in Latin America outside of Cuba to permit abortions on request to women during the first trimester of pregnancy. 3 Several studies have investigated the consequences of legalized abortion for women's health and maternal mortality (Olavarrieta et al, 2012; Schiavon, Troncoso & Polo, 2012; Becker et al, 2011a; Becker et al, 2011b; Mondragon y Kalb et al, 2011; Maldonado, 2010). The extent to which legalization can influence fertility levels and the age pattern of childbearing, though, has not been assessed in the Mexican case even though abortion has long been regarded as a central proximate determinant of fertility.…”