Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114050

Carrie Ellen Tatum, BA, The Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 60 Haven Ave #B2, New York, NY 10032, 212-300-7137, cet2106@columbia.edu, Sandra G. Garcia, ScM, ScD, Director of Reproductive Health for Latin America and the Caribbean, Population Council, Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean - Mexico City, c/o One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017, Eileen A. Yam, MPH, Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Population Council, Panzacola 62 Int 102, Col Villa Coyoacan, Mexico City 04000, Mexico, and Davida Becker, ScM, Population and Family Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 207 W. 29th St. Apt 2, Baltimore, MD 21211.

Introduction: In Mexico, abortion is legal only in limited, specific circumstances and unsafe abortion complications are estimated to be the third or fourth leading cause of maternal mortality. Our study sought to understand the opinions Mexicans hold about abortion and sexuality and to learn about their fears and hopes about more liberalized abortion laws in Mexico.

Methods: We carried out 12 focus group discussions with 20 women and 20 men, aged 18-24. Six focus groups took place in Mexico City and six in Merida, Yucatan. Participants were recruited by a Mexican market research firm. One reader thematically analyzed and coded discussion transcripts.

Results: Participants favoring highly restrictive abortion laws generally felt that women were “to blame” for becoming pregnant and should “face the consequences” of having a baby, whereas those who favored less restrictive laws focused less on culpability and more on the woman's right to control her future. Most Merida participants thought abortion was never legal, despite the fact that their state has the country's most liberal abortion laws. Many felt that, if abortion were legal, there would be more abortions but that it would likely be a safer procedure.

Conclusions: Services for Mexican women should help to alleviate their feelings of loneliness, guilt, and fear in confronting an unwanted pregnancy and seeking legal abortion services. It is critical to introduce more balanced information sources that emphasize the safety of abortions performed under legal conditions and address fears of greatly elevated abortion rates if abortion laws were liberalized.

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