Epidemiology of legal abortion in Italy

International Journal of Epidemiology
I Figà-TalamancaA Spinelli

Abstract

The paper reports on the trends of induced abortion in Italy since its legalization in 1978. Data collected through the national surveillance system show that the abortion rates and ratios in Italy, after an initial increase, have been stable in the last four years, and are comparable to those of other European countries. Italian women seeking abortion, however, are generally older and more frequently married and parous than in most other western countries. The data on abortion services and procedures show a slow improvement with increasing use of local rather than general anaesthesia, suction rather than surgical curettage, and outpatient rather than inpatient admissions. Post-abortion complications are infrequent and there have been no cases of death from legal abortion. The paper attempts to analyse the effect of legal abortion on fertility and on other maternal and child health indices, reaching tentative conclusions on the contribution of the legalization of abortion to the improvement of reproductive health. Uneven availability of abortion services, however, is currently a major problem; in many of the less developed areas of the country, it is estimated that as many as 50% of abortions are still performed outside the leg...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 1, 1993·Advances in Contraception : the Official Journal of the Society for the Advancement of Contraception·A SpinelliE Medda
Jan 1, 1991·Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy = Biomédecine & Pharmacothérapie·A Spinelli, J F Osborn
Jun 3, 1998·British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology·F ParazziniL Fedele
Jan 9, 1988·British Medical Journal·F ParazziniC La Vecchia
Sep 7, 2007·BJOG : an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology·F ParazziniV Chiantera
Dec 1, 1992·Contraception·B D'AvanzoC La Vecchia
Apr 1, 1995·Journal of the Royal Society of Health·P D Wang, R S Lin

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