Global Abortion Estimates Show Increase in Unsafe Procedures
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Comstock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The abortion rate around the world has apparently stalled for now, but the number of people having unsafe abortions is rising, new research shows.
Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO) found that the global abortion rate per 1,000 women ages 15-44 had fallen from 35 to 29 between 1995 and 2003. However, in 2008, increasing global population was cause for the 2.2 million more abortions (43.8 million) compared to 2003 (41.6 million).
What is perhaps most alarming is the continued increase in unsafe abortions globally. The rate at which women had undergone unsafe abortion procedures rose from 44 percent in 1995 to 49 percent — nearly half — in 2008.
The research findings, published Wednesday in Lancet, also show that abortions in developing countries have increased by 2.8 million since 2003. Abortions have fallen during that same time in the developed world, the report says.
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