Reproductive Health Matters
Volume 18, Issue 36 , Pages 136-146 , November 2010

Self-induction of abortion among women in the United States

  • Daniel Grossman

      Affiliations

    • Senior Associate, Ibis Reproductive Health, Oakland, CA, USA
    • ,
  • Kelsey Holt

      Affiliations

    • Project Manager, Ibis Reproductive Health, Cambridge, MA, USA
    • ,
  • Melanie Peña

      Affiliations

    • Senior Program Associate, Gynuity Health Projects, New York, NY, USA
    • ,
  • Diana Lara

      Affiliations

    • Project Manager, Ibis Reproductive Health, Oakland, CA, USA
    • ,
  • Maggie Veatch

      Affiliations

    • Program Research Coordinator, Gynuity Health Projects, New York, NY, USA
    • ,
  • Denisse Córdova

      Affiliations

    • Research Assistant, Ibis Reproductive Health, Cambridge, MA, USA
    • ,
  • Marji Gold

      Affiliations

    • Professor of Family and Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY USA
    • ,
  • Beverly Winikoff

      Affiliations

    • President, Gynuity Health Projects, New York, NY, USA
    • ,
  • Kelly Blanchard

      Affiliations

    • President, Ibis Reproductive Health, Cambridge, MA, USA

References 

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  2. Barbosa RM, Arilha M. The Brazilian experience with Cytotec. Studies in Family Planning. 1993;24(4):236–240
  3. Espinoza H, Abuabara K, Ellertson C. Physicians' knowledge and opinions about medication abortion in four Latin American and Caribbean region countries. Contraception. 2004;70(2):127–133
  4. Lafaurie MM, Grossman D, Troncoso E, et al. Women's perspectives on medical abortion in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru: a qualitative study. Reproductive Health Matters. 2005;13(26):75–83
  5. Jones MM, Fraser K. Misoprostol and attempted self-induction of abortion. Journal of Royal Society of Medicine. 1998;91:204–208
  6. Hess RF. Women's stories of abortion in southern Gabon, Africa. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. 2007;18(1):41–48
  7. Escumalha M, Gouveia C, Cunha M, et al. Neonatal morbidity and outcome of live born premature babies after attempted illegal abortion with misoprostol. Pediatric Nursing. 2005;31(3):228–231
  8. Faúndes A, Santos LC, Carvalho M, et al. Post-abortion complications after interruption of pregnancy with misoprostol. Advances in Contraception. 1996;12(1):1–9
  9. Coles MS, Koenigs LP. Self-induced medical abortion in an adolescent. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. 2007;20(2):93–95
  10. Saultes TA, Devita D, Heiner JD. The back alley revisited: sepsis after attempted self-induced abortion. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2009;10(4):278–280
  11. Ballou BR, Ryan A. DA: Young mother botched abortion with ulcer medication. Boston Globe. 24 January 2007. At: < www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/01/da_young_mother_1.html>. Accessed 16 March 2010
  12. Ramirez P. Self abortion: woman took Tylenol, Motrin. Post Standard Daily Newspaper. 26 July 2007. At: < http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2007/04/west_monroe_woman_charged_with.html>. Accessed 27 September 2010
  13. Cates W. Legal abortion: the public health record. Science. 1982;215(4540):1586–1590
  14. Jones RK. How commonly do US abortion patients report attempts to self-induce?. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2010;[Epub ahead of print]
  15. Rosing MA, Archbald CD. The knowledge, acceptability, and use of misoprostol for self-induced medical abortion in an urban US population. Journal of American Medical Women's Association. 2000;55(3 Suppl):183–185
  16. Charmaz K. Constructing grounded theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage: Thousand Oaks CA; 2006;
  17. von Hertzen H, Piaggio G, Huong NT, et al. WHO Research Group on Postovulatory Methods of Fertility Regulation. Efficacy of two intervals and two routes of administration of misoprostol for termination of early pregnancy: a randomised controlled equivalence trial. Lancet. 2007;369(9577):1938–1946
  18. Jones RK, Zolna MR, Henshaw SK, et al. Abortion in the United States: incidence and access to services, 2005. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 2008;40(1):6–16
  19. Honigman B, Davila G, Petersen J. Reemergence of self-induced abortions. Journal of Emergency Medicine. 1993;11(1):105–112
  20. Guttmacher Institute. An overview of abortion laws, State Policies in Brief. Available at: < www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_OAL.pdf>. Accessed 16 March 2010
  21. In:  Yanow S editors. The best defense is a good offense: misoprostol, abortion, and the law: Conference summary and strategic recommendations; 28–29 August 2009; New York City. Gynuity Health Projects; Reproductive Health Technologies Project. August 2009;At: < http://gynuity.org/downloads/Misoprostol_Abortion_and_Law.pdf>. Accessed 28 September 2010
  22. Lee JB, Buckley C. For privacy's sake, taking risks to end pregnancy. New York Times. At: < www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/nyregion/05abortion.html>. Accessed 28 September 2010
  23. Castel JM, Laporte JR, Reggi V, et al. Multicenter study on self-medication and self-prescription in six Latin American countries. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 1997;61(4):488–493
  24. Kaiser Family Foundation. Health reform: implications for women's access to coverage and care. 2009. At: < www.kff.org/womenshealth/upload/7987.pdf>. Accessed 30 July 2010
  25. Raising Women's Voices. Fact sheet: health reform and reproductive health: positive and negative effects. March 2010. At: < www.raisingwomensvoices.net/storage/RWV%20on%20Health%20Reform%20and%20Reproductive%20HealthFINAL3.30.10.pdf>. Accessed 20 July 2010
  26. Winikoff B, Ellertson C, Elul B, et al. Acceptability and feasibility of early pregnancy termination by mifepristone-misoprostol. Results of a large multicenter trial in the United States. Mifepristone Clinical Trials Group. Archives of Family Medicine. 1998;7(4):360–366
  27. Clark W, Gold M, Grossman D, et al. Can mifepristone medical abortion be simplified? A review of the evidence and questions for future research. Contraception. 2007;75:245–250
  28. Teal SB, Harken T, Jeanelle S, et al. Efficacy, acceptability and safety of medication abortion in low-income, urban Latina women. Contraception. 2009;80:479–483
  29. Blanchard K, Cooper D, Dickson K, et al. A comparison of women's, providers' and ultrasound assessments of pregnancy duration among termination of pregnancy clients in South Africa. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2007;114(5):569–575
  30. Clark W, Bracken H, Tanenhaus J, et al. Alternatives to a routine follow-up visit for early medical abortion. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2010;115(2 Pt 1):264–272
  31. Yarnall J, Swica Y, Winikoff B. Non-physician clinicians can safely provide first trimester medical abortion. Reproductive Health Matters. 2009;17(33):61–69

PII: S0968-8080(10)36534-7

doi: 10.1016/S0968-8080(10)36534-7

Reproductive Health Matters
Volume 18, Issue 36 , Pages 136-146 , November 2010

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