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The Sociocultural and Political Aspects of Abortion Global Perspectives
Alaka Malwade Basu, ed.
ISBN: 0-275-97728-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-97728-3
288 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 1/30/2003
List Price: $79.95 (UK Sterling Price: £55.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Seeking to define the ways various cultures view pregnancy, miscarriage, and abortion, this multidisciplinary collection of essays seeks to illustrate how these views influence policy decisions and practices regarding abortion around the world. Putting questions of pro-life and pro-choice aside, the contributors provide demographic coverage of the issues involved and contextualize some of the personal realities that underlie the approximately 50 million abortions that are believed to take place yearly worldwide. While the political and social climates in which women seek abortions vary from place to place, many of the chapters try to understand the moral implications that guide the decision to end a pregnancy from the perspective of the those who seek to do so.

Focusing primarily on developing nations, this important contribution to the literature on abortion provides readers with a careful overview of the different meanings attached to abortion depending on the cultural, social, and political climate. Areas covered include Tanzania, Bangladesh, West Africa, Ghana, Romania, Russia, Mexico, and Nigeria. General chapters on induced abortion, demographic research and abortion policy, and social pressures to abort are also included. This unique approach to the study of abortion will contribute to a greater understanding of a prominent social issue.
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction: Abortion in a Changing World by John C. Caldwell and Pat Caldwell
    Abortion: A World-Wide Overview by Susheela Singh, Stanley K. Henshaw, and Kathleen Bernsten
    The Challenge of Induced Abortion Research: A Transdisciplinary Perspective by Axel I. Mundigo
    Demographic Research and Abortion Policy: Limits to the Use of Statistics by Andrzej Kulczucki
    Kutoa Mimba: Debates about Schoolgirl Abortion in Machame, Tanzania by Amy Stambach
    Cleaning the Belly: Managing Menstrual Health in Guinea, West Africa by Elise Levin
    Changing Assessments of Abortion in a Northern Nigerian Town by Elisha P. Renne
    The Role of Local herbs in the Recent Fertility Decline in Ghana: Contraceptives or Aborrifacients? by John Anarfi
    Menstrual Regulation in Bangladesh by Sajeda Amin
    The Impact of Policy Changes on Fertility, Abortion, and Contraceptive Use in Romania by Florina Serbabescu, et al.
    Determinants of Abortion and Contraceptive Behavior in Russia by Inge Hutter
    Abortion Legislation in Mexico in the Face of a Changing Sociodemographic and Political Context by Susana Lerner and Guadalupe Salas
    The Role of Pharmacists and Market Herb Vendors as Abortifacient Providers in Mexico City by Susan Pick, et al.
    The Social Pressure to Abort by Chantal Blayo and Yves Blayo
    Concluding Remarks: The Role of Ambiguity by Alaka Malwade Basu
About the Author: ALAKA MALWADE BASU is Senior Research Associate at the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University.
LCC Class: 363
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