Significant Increase in Abortion Requests in Latin America Related to Concern About Zika Virus Exposure
Fearing the effects of the Zika virus on their unborn children, a new study has found that pregnant women in Latin America increasingly are sourcing abortion pills from ‘Women on Web’, a non-profit organisation that provides medical abortion outside formal healthcare settings via online telemedicine, in countries where safe abortion is not universally available.
The research, published on Wednesday 22 June 2016 as a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first to measure the response of pregnant women to Zika warnings in countries where abortion is limited or banned.
Reference
Aiken ARA, Gomperts R, Trussell J, et al. Requests for abortion in Latin America related to concern about Zika virus exposure. NEJM, 22 June 2016. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc1605389