More Condoms Means Fewer Abortions

If you want to rile up a group of people, simply utter the word “abortion” and stand back. The topic of abortion has generated the most heated discussions I have ever witnessed since the time I was in middle school when my best friend proudly declared in the middle of our history class that she was pro-choice. In a recent report issued by a research institute documenting a global survey, it was determined that approximately 70,000 women die each year from abortions through unsafe means; however, an increase in the use of contraceptives like condoms has resulted in fewer abortions across the globe.

Over fifty percent of the deaths from unsafe abortions occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. This region has long been known as an area with the lowest rate in terms of the use of contraceptives; therefore, it comes as no surprise that it also has one of the highest rates of unplanned pregnancies. This recent report came from the Guttmacher Institute and compiled data over a three year span. This institute has long been a supporter of abortion rights and is known as a leader of compiling data on trends surrounding abortion topics.

Sharon Camp, the president of the Guttmacher Institute stated, “In almost all developed countries, abortion is safe and legal. But in much of the developing world, abortion remains highly restricted, and unsafe abortion is common and continues to damage women’s health and threaten their survival.” The report urges developing nations to make their abortion laws less strict. Naturally, there are many individuals and organizations that do not feel this is the direction to take. One opponent is Deirdre McQuade, a director of policy with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. She states, “We need to be much more creative in assisting women with supportive services so they don’t need to resort to the unnatural act of abortion.”

According to data compiled by the Guttmacher Institute, between the years 1995 and 2003, the number of abortions fell drastically from over 45 million to just under 42 million each year. One reason for this is that women who were married had an increase in the use of contraceptives like condoms. Between the years 1990 and 2003, the use of contraceptives increased from 54% to 63%. The institute attributes this dramatic increase to the change in social standards and the increased availability of contraceptives like condoms worldwide. Africa, however, pales in comparison to these other regions as only 28% of their married females regularly used contraceptives.

Data from the survey shows that the number of abortions occurs pretty equally across the globe whether that region has legal abortions or restricted abortions. What makes all the difference is the number of deaths associated with abortions that are done under unsafe conditions. Camp states, “Legal restrictions do not stop abortion from happening. They just make the procedure dangerous. Too many women are maimed or killed each year because they lack legal abortion access.” One example comes from Nigeria where a woman attempted to have an abortion by drinking an herbal tea. When that did not work, she asked the local healer what she should do and was told to insert leaves in her vaginal area. This caused her to suffer internal injuries.

McQade states, “The Catholic Church has informally at least stopped fighting against contraception to the degree it once did and put more of its energies into fighting abortion. On the ground there are priests and nuns who refer people to family planning services.” Susan Cohen from the Guttmacher Institute thinks there are both good and bad points from the report. She states, “The bad news is that where most of the poor women live, throughout the developing world, unsafe abortion remains high, and women are dying as a result of it. It’s so preventable, and that’s the tragedy.”