Determinants of induced abortion: an analysis of individual, household and contextual factors in Rajasthan, India

Batya Elul, International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs

Analyses of determinants of abortion in developing countries generally consider only a small set of household and individual socio-demographic factors and treat abortion as an isolated outcome, ignoring its relationship with prior reproductive health experiences. This paper examines the contextual-, household- and individual-level determinants of abortion using a model that decomposes the probability of abortion into two sequential but interrelated events: pregnancy and the conditional decision to have an abortion. Increased socio-economic status and life-cycle factors were associated both with the probability of pregnancy and with the conditional likelihood of abortion. Women reporting personal networks were more likely to terminate pregnancies, particularly if network members had abortion experience. Community knowledge of sex-selective behaviors exerted a significant positive effect on the propensity of pregnancy termination. Among pregnant rural women, community beliefs regarding requirements for husband’s consent pre-abortion was also significantly associated with abortion and demonstrated the largest effect of all covariates.