Unsafe abortion continues to contribute substantially to reproductive morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially among poor women in developing countries. Every year 70,000–100,000 women die from unsafe abortions, 99% of them in developing countries. Population Council research aims to save women’s lives by reducing the morbidity and mortality caused by unsafe abortion and, in countries where abortion is legal, by making services safer.

Currently, Population Council research involves a range of community- and clinic-based efforts focused on improving the quality of existing abortion services; expanding access to safe abortion, including medical abortion; researching new abortifacients; testing innovative ways to measure prevalence rates; exploring determinants of abortion- and care-seeking pathways; and investigating abortion knowledge and attitudes among key constituencies, including women, men, and providers.  Council research on reducing unsafe abortion includes:

• Community-Based Research

• Medical Abortion Research

• Postabortion Care Research