Global, regional, and subregional classification of abortions by safety, 2010–14: estimates from a Bayesian hierarchical model

Abstract

Of the 55· 7 million abortions that occurred worldwide each year between 2010–14, we estimated that 30·6 million were safe, 17·1 million were less safe, and 8·0 million were least safe. Thus, 25·1 million abortions each year between 2010 and 2014 were unsafe, with 24·3 million (97%) of these in developing countries. The proportion of unsafe abortions was significantly higher in developing countries than developed countries (49·5% vs 12·5%). When grouped by the legal status of abortion, the proportion of unsafe abortions was significantly higher in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws than in those with less restrictive laws. This work was support by the UK Department for International Development’s National Assessment of the Incidence of Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in India project