Abortion in Thailand and Sweden: health services and short-term consequences

In Thailand, where abortion is still illegal, abortion services (health services) outside Bangkok, and outside hospitals or clinics, are provided by non-physician practitioners. In the studies reported here, those practitioners were interviewed in 1978 and 1981 about their methods and the characteristics of their clients. The first study revealed that massage is the method most widely used by rural practitioners and that uterine injection with different solutions comes second. The second study was in agreement with these findings. The health consequences of these induced abortions were studied by interviewing the clients of the rural practitioners in 1980 and 1981. In Sweden, where abortion has been legal for quite a long time, all women who need an abortion have access to safe and convenient health services throughout the country.