Su Mon Latt|Allison Milner|Anne Kavanagh
Abortion laws reform may reduce maternal mortality: an ecological study in 162 countries
University of Melbourne|University of Melbourne|University of Melbourne
unsafe abortion one commonest causes maternal mortality abortionrelated maternal deaths higher countries restrictive abortion laws assess whether maternal mortality varies within countries time according flexibility abortion laws number reasons woman abortionwe conducted ecological study assess association abortion laws maternal mortality 162 countries 1985 2013 aggregatelevel data abortion laws maternal mortality extracted united nations un world health organizations database respectively flexibility score abortion laws score 07 calculated summing number reasons abortion legally allowed country outcome maternal mortality ratio mmr represented maternal deaths per 100000 live births mmr modelled continuous variable flexibility score ordinal ranked variable categories 07 0 reference 3 vs 3 used fixed effects linear regression models estimate association flexibility score mmr adjusting gross domestic product per capita gdp per capita time fiveyear intervalscompared countrys flexibility score 3 maternal deaths reduced 45 per 100000 live births 95 ci 64 26 flexibility score increased 3 adjusting gdp per capita fiveyear time intervals exception flexibility score 6 mmr lower higher zero may indicate role country specific effectsthis study provides evidence abortion law reform countries restricted abortion laws may reduce maternal mortality