UCLA Center for the Study of Women

Abortion-related mortality and morbidity has long been an important public health problem in Mexico. Between 1990 and 2005, abortion-related cause of maternal mortality nationally, and the third leading cause in Mexico City (Schiavon, Polo, & Troncoso, 2007). In 2006, an estimated 149,700 women were hospitalized for complications from induced abortion, a 40% increase over the number hospitalized in 1990 (Juarez et al. 2008). A key factor underlying these statistics is that abortion was, until recently, a largely illegal practice in Mexico. As a result, women faced with unintended pregnancies who wished to terminate them had to do so clandestinely often risking their health and lives. This situation led to social inequalities because it was the poorest, the least educated, the youngest, and women from indigenous backgrounds who were at highest risk for unsafe abortions, while afford safe services (Sousa, Lozano, & Gakidou, 2010).