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Contraception and abortion in Nepalese young women

Table 5. (Continued)
Characteristics N Unsafe abortion Safe abortion Chi square test p
Province
Province 1 10 60.0 40.0
Madhesh 13 15.4 84.6
Bagmati 14 71.4 28.6
Gandaki 10 50.0 50.0
Lumbini 16 50.0 50.0
Karnali 11 54.5 45.5
Sudurpaschim 9 44.4 55.6
Wealth index
Poorest 7 42.9 57.1
Poor 16 31.3 68.8
Middle 15 53.3 46.7
Rich 20 60.0 40.0
Richest 25 52.0 48.0
Education
No education 10 20.0 80.0
Primary 16 37.5 62.5
Some secondary 29 58.6 41.4
SLC or Higher 28 57.1 42.9
Knowledge
Knowledge of legal status of abortion *
No 42 40.5 59.5
Yes 41 58.5 41.5
Percentages were weighted. Percent may not sum to 100 due to rounding. SLC: School leaving certificate. The statistical tests were based on the Chi-square tests. *P ≤ 0.05;
**P ≤ 0.01

Of the total recent 17 abortions reported by young women in the Tarai area in the past 5 years, 88% were performed
at “safe” facilities, while the corresponding figures for other caste/ethnic groups were 38% for Chhetri/Bahun high castes,
41% for Janajati or indigenous ethnic groups, and 44% for Dalit castes (Table 5). The number of children ever born was
also significantly associated with abortion safety. A large proportion (73%) of young women without having live birth
were putting them at risk of going to “unsafe” health facilities for an abortion. More young women (51%) with one child
ever born also took recourse to “unsafe” health facilities for abortion, while nearly one-third (65%) young women with
two or more children ever born visited “safe” abortion health facilities for abortion (Table 5).
Proportionately, more women not currently using contraception were accessing safe abortion service than those who
were using any contraception, although the relationship is not statistically significant. Women not using contraception
were accessing “unsafe” abortion service; perhaps, the pregnancy was unplanned or was due to forced sex. For wealth
quintiles and education, it appears that accessing safe abortion services decrease with rising economic status and education,
although the association is not statistically significant. Higher proportion (60%) of women having no knowledge of the
legal status of abortion were reporting accessing safe abortion service compared to their counterparts (42%) aware of the
legal status of abortion (Table 5).
3.4. Safe abortion in Gorkha project area

The implementation of the PHD Group women empowerment and the safe abortion project in Gorkha has some good
experience to share. The project was supplementing the government’s efforts of expanding safe abortion services in the
country. The PHD Group does not have its own service infrastructure rather it uses the government infrastructure, health
sector in this case, for project implementation. It is a Public-Private Partnership model in that NGOs or private sectors

88 International Journal of Population Studies | 2021, Volume 7, Issue 1