Interregional project concerning abortion.

Abstract

International audienceThe law legalizing abortion in France was passed in 1975. To group information of a social and medical nature and to publish reports on their activities, a questionnaire was designed to be filled by physicians and nurses working in centers and hospitals performing abortion. There were 19,000 abortions performed in 1976, and 30,000 are expected to be performed in 1979. The questionnaire contains 80 questions gathering information on socieconomic data, on medical history, on the procedure of the intervention, and on the follow-up visit. A study done on 5700 questionnaires filled between 1976 and 1977 show that most abortion seekers belong to the middle class, and that pregnancy was due in 20% of cases to pill failure, and in 34% of cases to failure of behavioral methods, or to lack of contraception. 88% of patients declared themselves satisfied with the procedure