SynthesisBMC women's health2022
How, when and where? A systematic review on abortion decision making in legally restricted settings in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Synthesis in BMC women's health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding contemporary challenges to safe abortion access in Africa through a health systems lens: a systematic review protocol.BMJ open · 2026Article
- 'Come on, Give Me the Pills Now': A Narrative Analysis of Reproductive Agency in Self-Managed Abortion in Argentina.Sociology of health & illness · 2026Article
- Pathways to care and service preferences, and experiences of women who self-manage abortion through community pharmacies in two counties of Kenya.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study on the Association Between Abortion and Bipolar Disorder, Major Depression: Evidence from the UK Biobank.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- 'Trust me, I'm a Doctor': examining the influence of threat perceptions, stigma, emotion, and distrust on reproductive health data falsification.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- Delayed decision-making, failed abortion attempts and factors associated with second-trimester abortions in Liberia.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- A qualitative study of abortion decision-making trajectories among pregnant women at their first antenatal care visit in Kampala, Uganda.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Article
- Close female friendships and knowledge of recommended abortion methods in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo among a representative sample of reproductive-aged women.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2024Article
- Abortion information-seeking experiences among women who obtained abortions in Kinshasa, DRC: Results from a qualitative study.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Lessons learned from developing and implementing digital health tools for self-managed abortion and sexual and reproductive healthcare in Canada, the United States, and Venezuela.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2023Article
- Article
- Pathways to care: Factors predicting women's access to clinic versus pharmacy-based medication abortion in Ghana.Women's health (London, England)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWith increasing global availability of medication abortion drugs, a safer option exists for many women to terminate a pregnancy even in legally restrictive settings. However, more than 22,000 women die each year from unsafe abortion, most often in developing countries where abortion is highly legally restricted. We conducted a systematic review to compile existing evidence regarding factors that influence women's abortion-related decision making in countries where abortion is highly legally restricted.
methodsWe searched ten databases in two languages (English and Spanish) for relevant literature published between 2000 and 2019 that address women's decision-making regarding when, where and how to terminate a pregnancy in sub-Saharan African, Latin American and the Caribbean countries where abortion is highly legally restricted.
resultsWe identified 46 articles that met the review's inclusion criteria. We found four primary factors that influenced women's abortion-related decision-making processes: (1) the role of knowledge, including of laws, methods and sources; (2) the role of safety, including medical, legal and social safety; (3) the role of social networks and the internet, and; (4) cost affordability and convenience.
conclusionsThe choices women make after deciding to terminate a pregnancy are shaped by myriad factors, particularly in contexts where abortion is highly legally restricted. Our review catalogued the predominant influences on these decisions of when, where and how to abort. More research is needed to better understand how these factors work in concert to best meet women's abortion needs to the full limit of the law and within a harm reduction framework for abortions outside of legal indications.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.