Role of Induced Abortion in Attaining Reproductive Goals in Kyrgyzstan

Chander Shekhar, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Alina Sulaimanova, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Abortion is one of the major reproductive health concerns in post-Soviet nations. On average, every woman has had around 1.6 abortions in Kyrgyzstan. In this context, this paper attempts to measure the role of abortion in fertility regulation. The analysis reveals that Kyrgyzstan can attain replacement level fertility without induced abortion by raising the contraceptive prevalence to 70 % at the current level of effectiveness. Also women’s attitude toward becoming pregnant and partner’s thinking that abortion is a problem are significantly associated with the propensity for induced abortion. By ethnocultural background, Russian women are highly determined to seize the full term if any unintended pregnancy occurs in future. Forty-six percent of non-user women who have ever had an abortion do not intend to use any contraceptive method in future, indicating a large proportion of women are at risk of repeating abortion in order to achieve their fertility preferences.