Abortion in a Restrictive Legal Context: The Views of Obstetrician–Gynaecologists in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Clandestine induced abortion: prevalence, incidence and risk factors among women in a Latin American country

“…4 It also has the highest proportion of maternal death from unsafe abortion (12%). 5 Women who have complications from clandestine abortions may not seek medical help for fear of being reported to legal authorities by health care workers. 6,7 Elimination of unsafe abortions is a key component of sexual and reproductive health care.…”

Critical care providers’ opinion on unsafe abortion in Argentina

“…The survey was structured, with questions taken from 2 other surveys used in Argentina-one in a general population [16] and the other among obstetricians and gynecologists [17].…”

“…However, in the highly restrictive context of Argentina, induced abortion is legal only when performed to preserve a woman's life or her physical health, when risk cannot be avoided with any other method, and when pregnancy is the consequence of rape of a mentally handicapped or insane woman. Some local surveys have shown that Argentine society as a whole [15,16] and part of the medical community (obstetricians and gynecologists) [17] support the decriminalization of abortion under circumstances not considered legal under the current law. Although critical care providers are exposed to the most severe consequences of illegal abortion, there has been almost no research to date in Argentina about their opinion on this topic.…”

With Everything Exposed: Cruelty in Post-Abortion Care in Rosario, Argentina

“…In other words, half the physicians did not associate quality of care with recognition of women's human rights. 9 Although none of the providers in Rosario admitted to having committed the violations described in the report, a number did express a commitment to rooting out such practices. The director of nursing services at one hospital admitted that she often saw such situations but had never realised they were a violation of human rights.…”