How unmonitored pill abortions are a big threat to women's health in India

Of the 7.6 million abortions that took place in 2015 in the six study states, 77% or 5.8 million were carried out through non-facility MMA.

Business Standard : Four out of five abortions in Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are induced using a drug or a combination of drugs, according to a new study.

While this medical method of abortion (MMA) has a success rate of 95%-98% if administered properly and before nine weeks of gestation, the study found that the lack of medical supervision has resulted in a significant number of botched abortions in India.

Incomplete abortions after the use of pills caused 65% of complications in women seeking post- abortion care in Assam, 59% in UP and 51% in Bihar, stated the report. The method was legalised in India by amending MTP act in 2002 to strengthen access to safe abortions up to seven weeks and it is still considered one of the safest and most effective measures.

The report ‘The Incidence of Abortion and Unintended Pregnancies in Six Indian States’, published on November 13, 2018, provides data for Assam, Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, which together account for 45% of women of reproductive age in India. The study was conducted jointly by Indian Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, Population Council, New Delhi and New York-based Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that promotes reproductive health and rights globally.

The prime reason for the abortion complications, the study found, was that women did not undergo the stipulated 15-day procedure for termination of pregnancy which requires at least two visits to a health facility.

Of the 7.6 million abortions that took place in 2015 in the six study states, 77% or 5.8 million were carried out through non-facility MMA and Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for 2.6 million.

The guidelines in the Handbook for MMA, issued by the ministry of health and family welfare, require that Mifepristone and Misoprostol, the two-drug regimen used to induce abortion, can only be provided only by a registered medical practitioner or a government hospital. But, the UPAI study found that most women obtained it from informal vendors and chemists. This means that they are not counselled and lack adequate information about the usage and side-effects of these drugs.

More than half of all abortions in India continue to be unsafe, and incomplete abortions have increased from around 30% to over 50% in the last five years, which shows the increase in unsuccessful home medical abortion attempts, IndiaSpend had reported on November 5, 2016.