Call for papers

International Seminar on

Interrelationships between contraception, unintended pregnancy and induced abortion
Organized by the Scientific Panel on Abortion of the IUSSP and Ipas-Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1-3 December 2008

The objective of this seminar is to document, stimulate and advance research on interrelationships between contraception, unintended pregnancy and induced abortion, by bringing together researchers who are working on different aspects of these topics, and who are developing and applying innovative approaches to studying these relationships.  Helping women and couples to achieve the number of children they desire at the time they want to have them is a core goal of the Plan of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994.  Success in regulating fertility has become even more important as desired family size continues to decline and as motivation to delay the first birth and to space subsequent births becomes more crucial with the expansion in women’s roles in recent decades, to include work and dimensions other than motherhood.  The rate of induced abortion may increase as the motivation to achieve fertility preferences rises, if effective contraceptive prevalence does not also increase.  The seminar will address issues related to abortion decision making and the prevention of unplanned pregnancy among individuals and couples, as well as macro or aggregate-level relationships including trends over time and differences among population groups and across countries. This area of research is of high priority and is at a stage where it would benefit greatly from scientific exchange.

Research that puts induced abortion in the broader context of unintended pregnancy and contraceptive use has much to offer in expanding our understanding of the causes of abortion.  This research also has the potential to contribute to policies and programs to reduce unintended pregnancy and improve women's ability to achieve their fertility goals. Correct and consistent use of contraception is essential to prevent unintended pregnancy, and the need for induced abortion.  A related and important issue is the nature of the interrelationship between contraceptive use and abortion.  Research is taking place on some of these issues, but most studies address separate components or aspects.  There is great value in bringing together researchers who are working on different aspects, using different methodologies and approaches, as a means of advancing knowledge of the linkages between the different components, and of providing a more comprehensive understanding of how to prevent unintended pregnancy.   

The social and political sensitivity of the issue of induced abortion means that carrying out high quality research on abortion in general, and including work on the relationships between induced abortion, contraception and unintended pregnancy, is difficult. Despite the difficulties of obtaining reliable information on abortion, understanding the relationships between abortion and contraception and having accurate measurement of the level of unintended pregnancy are important from a number of perspectives: from the demographic perspective because contraception is the main means of preventing unintended pregnancy worldwide, and although much more variable, abortion continues to be an important practice, often even where contraceptive prevalence is high; from the social perspective for a number of reasons, for example if preference for males is very strong, sex-selective abortion can result in skewed sex ratios; from the public health perspective, because unsafe abortion is a significant contributor to maternal morbidity and mortality and safe and accessible abortion and contraceptive services are needed to prevent these negative health consequences; and from the service provision perspective to determine what are the existing needs for improvements in contraceptive services.

This seminar will provide an opportunity for researchers to present results from new studies, propose new study designs, approaches and methodologies, assess the advantages and disadvantages of existing methodologies and to advance and guide future work in this area. Additional aims of the seminar are to increase networking between researchers and to facilitate linkages and coordination across disciplines, countries and research institutions.

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 contraception is very high and abortion is low, to those where both induced abortion and contraceptive use are relatively high, to those where abortion is high and contraception is low and/or very ineffective.  This seminar will also include research in countries where abortion is safe and legal as well as those where it is largely unsafe and/or illegal.    

This seminar will cover the following topics:

• Social and economic determinants of unintended pregnancy and induced abortion—individual, familial, community, cultural and contextual factors.
• Not using contraception (at all, gaps in use, non-use during post-partum period) and using methods incorrectly or inconsistently (contraceptive failure and discontinuation)—their relative importance as proximate determinants of unintended pregnancy and induced abortion.
• Factors associated with poor contraceptive use: e.g. inadequate knowledge of contraceptive methods and sources; poor availability of or access to information, services and supplies; fear of side-effects of modern methods and preference for traditional methods; opposition to contraception; inadequate knowledge of risk of pregnancy; providers’ attitudes, knowledge and practice in regard to provision of contraceptive and abortion services.
• Socio-economic inequities in prevention of unintended pregnancy.
• The relationship between trends in fertility goals, contraceptive use and induced abortion—at the aggregate or population level or at the individual level. 
• Women's knowledge, perception and attitudes towards abortion and contraception: e.g. knowledge about risks of abortion and contraception; relative opportunity cost of obtaining an abortion compared to using contraception.
• The strength of motivation to prevent a birth and its relationship to unintended pregnancy and abortion.
• Abortion decision-making: The process of abortion related decision-making, steps taken, timing, barriers, role of the husband or partner and of other family members. 
• Adolescents:  In some regions, adolescents are a very large proportion of all women having abortion.  Do adolescents face different and greater barriers than adult women in preventing unintended pregnancy and unplanned births—e.g. poorer knowledge of and access to contraception and abortion, lower self efficacy and less decision making power? 
• The relationships between sexual violence, unintended pregnancy and induced abortion and the difficulty of obtaining an abortion in case of rape.
• The impact of the hormonal method emergency contraception (EC) in reducing abortion incidence; are there similarities in barriers to accessing emergency contraception as for induced abortion?

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 the interrelationships between abortion, contraception and unintended pregnancy.

The IUSSP Scientific Panel on Abortion invites researchers in the field to submit a detailed abstract of no more than 500 words or upload an extended abstract (and if the author(s) wish, a full paper which must be unpublished and not submitted for publication) and fill out the online submission form before 13 June 2008
  

Deadline for abstract: 13 June 2008.
Applicants will be informed whether paper is accepted by: 15 July 2008.
Participants must submit their complete paper by: 27 October 2008.

The seminar will be limited to about 20 contributed papers. If 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 and papers may be submitted in English, French or Spanish. However, the working language of the meeting is English, and presentations must be made in English.

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. The IUSSP expects to inform applicants of the status of their application for financial support before the end of August 2008.  However, funding is contingent upon submission of a complete paper of acceptable quality by the deadline for papers.

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