مقالات پذیرفته شده در نهمین کنگره بین المللی زیست پزشکی
Understanding and preventing induced abortion in Iran, a solution to increasing the population: A Review Article
Understanding and preventing induced abortion in Iran, a solution to increasing the population: A Review Article
Somayeh Nikkhah,1,*
1. Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman Branch ,Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran.
Introduction: Induced abortion is a complex issue that, despite being a reproductive-sexual behavior, is also considered a major public health and women's health problem. According to the World Health Organization, 22 percent of pregnant women in worldwide resort to abortion every year. In Iran, despite legal and religious restrictions that only allow this procedure under certain circumstances, induced abortions continue to be performed. Iran is facing a population aging supercrisis in the near future, so preserving the lives of these fetuses is of particular importance for the future of the country and the rejuvenation of the population. The present study reviews the main causes of induced abortion in Iran in order to prevent it.
Methods: In order to prevent the main causes of induced abortion in Iran, keywords including induced(illegal) abortion and prevention was searched in the following databases: Pub Med, Google Scholar, Iran medex and Magiran from 2000 to 2024 and 21 papers were evaluated.
Results: There are no accurate statistics on the number of intentional abortions performed annually in Iran. According to estimates, 1,000 intentional abortions occur in Iran every day. Although there are no accurate reports on the mortality and morbidity rates resulting from unsafe abortions, anecdotal evidence and statistics indicate a high mortality rate resulting from unsafe abortions.
According to available research, three main categories of individual, family, and social factors are considered the main causes of intentional abortion in Iran. Parents' personal desire to not have more children (40 percent); economic issues (21 percent); and unplanned pregnancy (34 percent: 16 percent due to unwanted pregnancies and 18 percent due to untimely and untimely pregnancies) are the main causes reported, and other causes account for a small percentage.
Statistics show that not wanting children has been influenced by the family planning slogans of "one or two children are enough" or "fewer children, better life" over the past years, because studies have shown that with the increase in the number of children, the rate of intentional abortion has also increased. In the final decision of couples to have an intentional abortion (for any reason), the cognitive distance from the jurisprudential-legal realities of abortion is evident. Research results have shown that 60% of couples give up abortion upon realizing that abortion is considered suicide, and this shows the need to increase women's awareness of the laws and religious rulings of abortion through public education, which can prevent the negative consequences of incorrect and unsafe decisions in this field. For this purpose, in Iran, abortion centers have been set up to create a culture in the field of preventing intentional abortion, providing couples with the necessary education and counseling to give up abortion.
Conclusion: The Collection of factors can be the causes of induced abortion among married women. Understanding these factors can play an effective role in designing intervention, counseling, management, and policy-making programs at the local and national levels.