New trends in induced abortion
in Csongrád County
Lászlóné Ladányi, Sándorné Rabi, Gizella Csepiné Szűcs, Zoltán
Kozinszky*
Csongrád
County Family Planning Centre, * Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,
Faculty of General Medicine, University of Szeged, Hungary
Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the
Hungarian laws concerning induced abortion on the tendency of the number of
actual abortions.
Materials and methods: The Hungarian regulations from 1993 specify that
permission for artificial abortion for social reasons must be provided by a
Family Planning Centre. A new law passed in 2000 states that would-be aborters
must participate in two consultations with a specially trained midwife. In the
first, the midwife attempts to convince the women requesting abortion to
continue their pregnancy; in the second, information is provided as concerns
the details of abortion and contraception. Emergency contraception is becoming
more popular and outpatient contraception clinics for teenagers have proved to
be effective sources of information concerning contraception for young women,
and this has helped to decrease the number of induced abortions.
Results: In consequence of the Hungarian jurisdiction measures in
Hungary, the number of abortions per 1000 women of reproductive age decreased
from 1994 (29.2) to 2001 (22.2), the data for Csongrád County being slightly
lower (28.7 and 21.6, respectively). Furthermore, the rate of abortion among teenagers (the number of abortions
among teenagers per total number of induced abortions) decreased from 1994
(0.169) to 2001 (0.116), and is significantly lower in Csongrád County (0.113
and 0.106, respectively) as compared with the Hungarian average. The two-round
system of providing aborters with information has decreased the number of
induced abortions (in Csongrád County: by 5.3% in 1993, and by 4.6% in 2001).
Conclusion: Our results have highlighted the significance of the
information processes in the orientation of teenagers and would-be aborters in
the Family Planning Centres, which have promoted a decline in the high abortion
rate both in Csongrád County and in Hungary.