The University of the Republic presented a report with official data from the first ten years of application of legal abortion in Uruguay.
The University of the Republic (UdelaR) presented national data on the number of abortions in Uruguay within the framework of the tenth anniversary of the law of Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE)and registered a stagnation in the number of interventions carried out year after year.
The clinic Gynecology A of the Faculty of Medicine from UdelaR presented data on the number and rate of abortions in Uruguay during the first decade after its legalization —registrations between 2013 and 2022, inclusive. The report found that in the first year of the law being in full force, 7,171 abortions were performed, while ten years later, the figure reached 10,505 procedures of this type—considering all available methodologies.
Slower and slower evolution
The UdelaR study showed, in turn, that the evolution of the number of annual abortions It is getting slower and slower; and that even had two years of decline in 2019 and 2020. According to Veronica Fiol, from the Gynecotocology A clinic of the Faculty of Medicine, the data show that “a plateau” in this category, something that was “within expectations,” as he expressed to Subrayado.
Although they show a small increase year after year, the variations are minimal. For example, from 2021 to 2022, only 404 more abortions were recorded (+3.9%); But if you look at the total of 10,505 abortions last year, the figure is barely higher than in 2018 — with 10,373 procedures recorded.
Likewise, another fact highlighted by the specialist was that since 2016 the absolute number of abortions in teenagers —with an increase recorded during 2022—, which “corresponds to the decrease in teenage pregnancies.”
In the regional comparison, meanwhile, the abortion rate in women between 15 and 44 years old is equal to that of developed countries, according to Fiol. It is located at 11.09 per 1,000 women within this age range.
The report also highlights that the most widely used method to terminate a pregnancy was pharmacological: In the years contemplated, almost all abortions were performed with medication, and in the majority of them—the rate was less than 96%—the treatment was outpatient. With the exception of 2013—when 231 surgical procedures were recorded—the average number of IVE surgical interventions was 55 per year.
Source: Ambito
