The abortion culture issue in Serbia

In: Stanovništvo: Population = Naselenie, Band 49, Heft 1, S. 1-13

Abstract

The problem of a large number of abortions in our country was first pointed
out as far back as 1935 at the 17th Congress of Yugoslav Physicians. The
abortion problem in Serbia is still present today, even though modern science
has provided new methods and means which are a logical solution to the
dilemma on birth control methods from the health and social aspect. Namely,
total abortion rate in Serbia was estimated at 2.76 in the year 2007. It is
very high; double the number of the total fertility rate and among the
highest in Europe and the world. The term abortion culture was first used, as
far as we know, by Henry David in the introduction of the book From Abortion
to Contraception - A Resource to Public Policies and Reproductive Behavior in
Central and Eastern Europe from 1917 to the Present in 1999, without
specifically determining it. The aim of this paper is to identify the most
important factors of the deterministic basis of endemic induced abortions in
Serbia together with indirectly estimating their connection with the
existence, namely nonexistence, of the abortion culture in our country. In
that sense, potential factors of abortion incidence in Serbia which emerge
from the social system and those connected to the individual level have been
considered. In other words, a series of laws and other legal and political
documents have been analyzed which are significant for perceiving the
abortion matter, as well as institutional frameworks for family planning,
health services, educating the youth regarding reproductive health, including
findings of numerous researches carried out among women of various age and
doctors from 1990 till present day in Serbia. The following most significant
factors for the long duration of the abortion problem have been singled out:
insufficient knowledge of modern contraception, a belief that modern
contraceptive methods are harmful to health and a number of psychological
barriers as well as those arising from relationships with partners.
Gynecological attitudes about modern contraception and behavior do not differ
significantly from the rest of the population. Additionally, there are few
organized efforts to promote sex education, as well as limitations in the
family planning programme. Distinguished macro and micro factors of
traditional birth control in Serbia confirm the existence of the abortion
culture. The nature of these factors though, indicate to the presence of the
abortion culture in our country on the political, educational, health and
individual level. The abortion culture obstructs the adoption of a modern
concept of family planning and points out to the persistence of the abortion
problem in our country in the years to come.