Abortion service provision has changed noticeably in the recent past and medication abortion currently accounts for four-fifths of all induced abortions taking place in India. How these changes have modified abortion experiences among young women – a group known to be more disadvantaged than adult women – remains unanswered. This paper fills this gap and examines the experiences of married young abortion seekers, including pre-abortion decision-making, abortion seeking and experiences of the procedure, and post-abortion complications. Data were drawn from a community-based survey of 4952 married young women aged 15–24 years conducted in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2015. The study focused on 166 young women who had an induced abortion in the two years before the survey, and used descriptive statistics to describe their abortion experiences. Seventy-four per cent of abortion seekers had relied on medication abortion and 47% had obtained it over the counter without a physician’s prescription. Moreover, 90% accessed abortion services from private facilities, including drug sellers. A small proportion (4%) had undergone abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy. At the same time, 13% reported multiple abortion attempts; 17% underwent dilation and curettage; and 52% experienced self-reported complications, including 5% who experienced moderate to severe complications. The findings call for greater attention to providing contraceptive counselling and services to married young women, ensuring abortion services in public health facilities and exploring mechanisms to improve drug sellers’ knowledge and practices in providing medication abortion.

中文翻译：

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已婚年轻女性的堕胎：印度拉贾斯坦邦和北方邦的一项社区研究结果

堕胎服务的提供在最近发生了显着变化，药物堕胎目前占印度所有人工流产的五分之四。这些变化如何改变年轻女性的堕胎经历 - 一个已知比成年女性更处于不利地位的群体 - 仍未得到解答。本文填补了这一空白，并研究了已婚年轻流产寻求者的经历，包括流产前的决策、流产寻求和程序的经验，以及流产后的并发症。数据来自 2015 年在北方邦和拉贾斯坦邦对 4952 名 15 至 24 岁已婚年轻女性进行的社区调查。该研究重点关注在调查前两年内进行过人工流产的 166 名年轻女性，并使用描述性统计来描述他们的堕胎经历。74% 的堕胎寻求者依赖药物堕胎，47% 的人在没有医生处方的情况下通过柜台获得堕胎。此外，90% 的人从包括药品销售商在内的私人机构获得堕胎服务。一小部分（4%）在妊娠中期经历了流产。与此同时，13% 的人报告多次尝试堕胎；17% 进行了刮宫术；52% 经历过自我报告的并发症，其中 5% 经历过中度至重度并发症。调查结果呼吁更加重视为已婚年轻女性提供避孕咨询和服务，确保公共卫生机构的堕胎服务，并探索提高贩毒者在提供药物堕胎方面的知识和做法的机制。