Call for papers

International seminar on Measurement of abortion incidence, abortion-related morbidity and mortality
Organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Abortion
and the Centre Population et Développement (CEPED),
with support from the CREDAL (UMR7169 CNRS-Université de Paris III Sorbonne nouvelle)
Paris, France, 7-9th November 2007

 

The objective of this seminar is to stimulate and advance research on measurement of abortion incidence, and abortion-related morbidity and mortality, by bringing together researchers who are working on different aspects of these topics, and who are developing and applying different methodologies and approaches. This area of abortion research is high priority and is at a stage where it would benefit greatly from scientific exchange. With the current increased attention to the issue of unsafe abortion and its contribution to maternal mortality and morbidity, a clearer understanding of the relative merits of the available study designs, and estimation approaches for measuring abortion and its health consequences would be a significant advance and would greatly assist researchers worldwide, and particularly those in settings where abortion is legally restricted, to carry out research on these topics. In addition, in contexts where the abortion law has recently changed, there is need for research to examine the impact of the legal change on incidence and health consequences.

The social and political sensitivity of the issue of abortion means that carrying out high quality research on abortion in general, and including work on abortion incidence, is difficult. Underreporting is variable but often high, whether the source is surveys of individuals or facilities or official data collection systems. High levels of underreporting may occur regardless of the legal status of abortion: it has been documented in a wide variety of contexts, ranging from countries where abortion is legally permitted under broad criteria, to those where abortion is permitted to protect women’s mental or physical health, or only to save the life of the woman, or where it is not permitted under any circumstances. Yet, accurate measurement of abortion incidence, and of abortion-related morbidity and mortality is important from a number of perspectives: from the demographic perspective because it is a key component of fertility control and of unintended pregnancy; from the social perspective for a number of reasons, for example because it may influence sex ratios if sex-selective abortion is common; from the public health perspective, because unsafe abortion is a significant contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality; and from the service provision perspective, because it is an an indicator of unmet need for family planning, and need for improvements in contraceptive services and postabortion care. Despite the difficulty of measuring abortion and abortion-related morbidity and mortality, it is important to advance existing methodologies for doing so.

A number of estimation methodologies have been developed for use in contexts where abortion is legally restricted, and other methodologies are used where abortion is legally permitted under broad circumstances. This seminar will provide an opportunity for researchers to present results from new studies of abortion incidence, morbidity and mortality, propose new methodologies, assess the advantages and disadvantages of existing methodologies and help guide future work in this area. Additional aims of the seminar are to increase networking between researchers and to facilitate linkages, coordination and where feasible, integration of different measurement approaches.

This seminar will include research in both developed and developing countries, and aims to represent research in a variety of contexts, ranging from those where abortion is broadly legal, safe and accessible, to those where safe and unsafe practices are both common, and those where abortion is mostly unsafe and safe abortion is extremely difficult to access.

This seminar will cover the following topics:
• Abortion incidence: studies that present new methodologies; empirical studies applying existing methodologies; studies comparing different estimation methods and/or different data collection approaches; assessment of existing methodologies – strength and weaknesses. Seminar organizers encourage submission of studies in countries where abortion is legally restricted, studies that illustrate the limitations, advantages and challenges in applying particular methodologies given country contexts; and studies that advance the development of methodologies for measuring incidence.

• Abortion-related morbidity: studies that present new methodologies; empirical studies that apply existing methodologies; measurement of severity of abortion complications; relationship of morbidity to abortion method, type of provider and women's characteristics; extent of untreated abortion morbidity; assessment of the adequacy of existing methodologies.

• Abortion-related mortality: studies that present new methodologies; empirical studies that apply existing methodologies such as the sisterhood method, verbal autopsy/audit techniques; assessment of the adequacy of existing methodologies and estimation techniques for measuring abortion as a cause of death.

• Factors related to incidence of unsafe abortion, access to medical care for abortion complications, and severity of abortion morbidity and mortality.

• Special methodological problems the field needs to address: for example, adaptation of current methodologies to capture the impact of medical abortion on incidence, morbidity and mortality.

• Studies that assess the impact of changes in abortion law (whether broadening or narrowing criteria under which abortion is legally permitted) on: incidence of abortion; incidence of unsafe abortion; level of abortion-related morbidity and mortality; studies on the relationship between legality and safety of abortion including socio-cultural factors that affect access to safe abortion services.

Papers may be country-specific or comparative, on developed or developing countries, quantitative and/or qualitative. This International Seminar will bring together demographers, public health specialists, sociologists and anthropologists, as well as scholars from other related disciplines interested in exchanging the latest scientific knowledge on measurement of the incidence of induced abortion, and abortion-related morbidity and mortality.

The IUSSP Scientific Panel on Abortion invites researchers in the field to submit a detailed 500-1000 word abstract (and if the author(s) wish, a full paper which must be unpublished) and fill out the online submission form before 31 May 2007

Deadline for abstract: 31 May 2007.
Applicants will be informed whether paper is accepted by: 11 June 2007.
Participants must submit their complete paper by: 28 September 2007.

The seminar will be limited to a maximum of 15 contributed papers. If there the paper is co-authored, please indicate the names of co-authors at the end of the abstract. Submission should be made by the author who will attend the seminar.

Abstracts must be submitted in English only and the working language at the meeting is English. Simultaneous translation into French will be provided only if sufficient funding is secured. Final papers can be submitted either in English or in French. In addition to dissemination through posting on the member-restricted portion of the IUSSP website, seminar organizers will explore possibilities for publishing the papers, after the seminar.

Current funding for the seminar is very limited; efforts are under way to raise additional funds, but the outcome is at this point uncertain. Participants are therefore encouraged to seek their own funding to cover the cost of their participation in the seminar.. Those who are applying for financial assistance from the IUSSP should indicate their need when they submit by ticking the appropriate box on the on-line submission form when submitting paper or abstract. Applicants will be informed of the status of their application for financial support before 15 August 2007.

For further information, please contact Susheela Singh (ssingh@guttmacher.org).