Legal abortion requests and outcomes for women when the law is restrictive – experience from a referral centre in south-eastern Brazil

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of abortion requests in pregnancies resulting from sexual violence in the period 2015–2020 and outcome groups of comparison.

Graphic 1. Number of requests and outcome groups according to the year of care Fisher’s exact test. p = 0.458.

Table 1. Socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics of women victims of sexual violence who requested legal abortion in the period 2015–2020.

Socio-demographic characteristics	n	%
Age group, years old (n = 235)
10–14	11	4.6
15–19	33	14.0
20–24	67	28.5
25–29	49	20.8
30–34	38	16.1
35–43	37	15.7
Origin (n = 234)
Campinas	119	50.8
Coverage region	87	37.1
Outside coverage region	28	11.9
Self-reported skin colour (n = 233)
White	152	65.2
Non-white	81	34.7
Schooling years (n = 227)
≤8 years	26	11.4
9–11 years	139	61.2
≥12 years	62	27.3
Marital status (n = 231)
Single without a partner	178	77.0
Single with a partner	23	9.9
Co-habiting with a partner	30	13.0
Lives with (n = 228)
Family or partner	185	81.1
By herself	26	11.4
Others^a	17	7.4
Occupation (n = 232)
Employee	99	42.6
Student	45	19.4
Student and work	17	7.3
At home/No occupation	71	30.6
Religion (n = 196)
Pentecostal evangelical tradition	76	38.7
Catholic	75	38.2
Other religion	9	4.6
No religion	36	18.3
Number of births (n = 232)
No birth	92	39.6
1	80	34.4
≥2	60	25.8
Number of abortions (n = 232)
No abortion	215	92.6
1–2	17	7.3
Family income^b (n = 132), mean (±SD)	697.10	(1078.9)

^a Others: shelter, student housing, friends, no permanent home.

^b Income in American dollars received monthly. Variables with missing data.

Table 2. Comparison between outcome groups in relation to socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric history and gestational age at admission.

Variables	Outcome Groups			P^A
	Performed procedure	Remained pregnant	Abortion denied
	n = 153	n = 19	n = 25
Origin (n = 234)				0.622^b
Campinas	73 (47.7)	12 (63.1)	15 (60.0)
Metropolitan area (coverage)	58 (37.9)	6 (31.5)	8 (32.0)
Out of coverage area	22 (14.3)	1 (5.2)	2 (8.0)
Age group (n = 235)				0.884^b
10–14 years old	7 (4.5)	2 (8.0)	–
15–19 years old	21 (13.7)	4 (21.0)	3 (12.0)
20–24 years old	41 (26.8)	7 (36.8)	9 (36.0)
25–29 years old	32 (20.9)	4 (21.0)	4 (16.0)
30–34 years old	27 (17.6)	1 (5.2)	4 (16.0)
35–43 years old	25 (16.34)	3 (15.8)	3 (12.0)
Self-reported skin colour (n = 233)				0.401^a
White	99 (65.5)	10 (52.6)	14 (52.0)
Non-white	52 (34.4)	9 (47.3)	11 (44.0)
Marital status (n = 231)				0.152^b
Single	122 (81.3)	12 (63.1)	21 (84.0)
Single with a partner	10 (6.6)	3 (15.8)	3 (12.0)
Co-habiting with a partner	18 (12.0)	4 (21.0)	1 (4.0)
Schooling years (n = 227)				0.043^b
≤8 years	22 (14.7)	1 (5.2)	2 (8.0)
9–11 years	80 (53.7)	13 (68.4)	21 (84.0)
≥12 years	47 (31.5)	5 (26.3)	2 (8.0)
Occupation (n = 232)				0.048^b
Employee	70 (46.0)	4 (21.0)	11 (44.0)
Student	31 (20.4)	2 (10.5)	5 (20.0)
Student and work	11 (7.2)	–	1 (4.0)
At home/No occupation	40 (26.3)	13 (68.4)	8 (32.0)
Religion (n = 196)				0.177^b
Pentecostal evangelical trad.	51 (37.7)	7 (46.6)	7 (33.3)
Catholic	53 (39.2)	7 (46.6)	9 (42.8)
No religion	28 (20.7)	–	3 (14.3)
Other religion	3 (2.2)	1 (6.6)	2 (9.5)
Lives with (n = 228)				0.659^b
family/partner	118 (78.1)	17 (89.4)	22 (88.0)
by herself	21 (13.9)	1 (5.2)	1 (4.0)
other	12 (7.9)	1 (5.2)	2 (8.0)
Family income^d (n = 112), mean (SD)	612.2 (770.28)	535.5 (435.4)	1295.6 (2708.4)	0.912^c
Gestational age (days), mean (SD)	69.4 (25.5)	82.0(30.3)	115 (58.6)	<0.001^c

^A Comparison of all groups.

^a Chi-square test.

^b Fisher’s exact test.

^c Kruskal-Wallis test.

^d Income in American dollars received monthly (comparison for 3 groups, n = 112). Lives with, other: shelter, friends, student housing and no permanent home.

Table 3. Comparison between outcome groups in relation to SV characteristics, personal history, reactions and attitudes related to pregnancy.

Variables	Outcome Groups			P^A
	Procedure performed	Remained pregnant	Abortion denied
	n = 153	n = 19	n = 25
Unknown aggressor (n = 233)	108 (70.6)	7 (36.8)	13 (52.0)	0.005^a
Any intimidation (n = 233)	138 (90.2)	16 (84.2)	17 (68.0)	0.010^b
Place of approach (n = 230)				0.058^b
PUBLIC space	78 (50.9)	3 (17.6)	11 (47.8)
Residence	40 (26.1)	10 (58.8)	7 (30.4)
Party	32 (20.9)	3 (17.6)	4 (17.4)
Workspace	3 (1.9)	1 (5.8)	1 (4.3)
History of domestic violence (n = 232)	27 (17.6)	7 (36.8)	6 (25.0)	0.114^b
History of intimate partner violence (n = 232)	26 (17.0)	6 (31.5)	6 (25.0)	0.208^b
History of sexual violence (n = 232)	27 (17.6)	5 (26.3)	2 (8.3)	0.310^b
Feelings about pregnancy
Guilt (n = 218)	56 (36.6)	5 (26.3)	8 (36.3)	0.675^a
Shame (n = 218)	71 (46.4)	2 (10.5)	9 (40.9)	0.012^a
Depression (n = 218)	143 (93.4)	17 (89.4)	20 (90.9)	0.678^b
Rage (n = 218)	25 (16.3)	3 (15.8)	2 (9.1)	0.770^b
Crying (n = 218)	110 (71.9)	7 (36.8)	11 (50.0)	0.002^a
Ambivalence (n = 221)	23 (15.0)	13 (68.4)	5 (21.7)	<0.001^b
Desire to terminate pregnancy (223)	153 (100.0)	13 (68.4)	21 (91.3)	<0.001^b
Pregnancy aversion (n = 218)	36 (23.5)	1 (5.2)	5 (22.7)	0.171^b
Disclosure about pregnancy (n = 215)	102 (67.5)	18 (94.7)	16 (72.7)	0.048^a
Social isolation (n = 218)	116 (75.8)	9 (47.3)	17 (77.2)	0.028^b

^A Comparison of all groups.

^a Chi-square test.

^b Fisher’s exact test.

Data availability statement

Data are not available. Data were collected from medical records based on notes from a multidisciplinary team.