Open AccessAbortion Law awareness and Abortion Services Utilization among reproductive age women of Inarwa municipality of Eastern Nepal
Author(s) -
Vijay Kumar Khanal,
Hari Prasad Ghimire,
Meika Bhattachan,
Gyanu Nepal,
Shyam Sundar Budhathoki,
Khem R. Sharma,
P. P. Gupta,
Paras Kumar Pokhrel
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of gandaki medical college
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2070-4259
pISSN - 2070-4240
DOI - 10.3126/jgmcn.v13i1.27900
Subject(s) - abortion , reproductive health , unsafe abortion , abortion law , medicine , family planning , population , demography , family medicine , pregnancy , environmental health , sociology , research methodology , genetics , biology
Globally, reproductive health and quality of life among female population has been found to be unsatisfactory in developing world. Until 1963, Nepal’s 1854 legal code known as MulukiAin was revised numerous times that banned abortion exempting risk of women’s life. Enactment of New Abortion Policy from 2003 brought landmark reforms to the women’s choice in family planning methods and ended the sufferings of lengthy prison sentences for abortion crimes. This study was conducted to explore the level of awareness about abortion law with regard to health care utilization among women of reproductive age group along with its association with socio-demographic characteristics.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2014, in Inarwa Municipality among women of reproductive age group (16 to 49 years). Convenient sampling was done to collect data from households. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS 11.5 and presented in tabular form. Chi-square test was used to show association of awareness of abortion law and socio-demographic variables.
Results: education, age at first marriage and age at 1st pregnancy was found to be significant (p value: <0.005).
Conclusion: As media was the most used source of information, more education on awareness of abortion law and health care utilization should be disseminated through this medium.