The replacement of abortion by contraception in three Central Asian republics. Executive summary.

This paper documents the substitution of contraception for abortion in three newly independent states of the former Soviet Union--Kazakhstan Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The research is based both on large national sample surveys conducted between 1995 and 1997 by the Demographic and Health Surveys and on each countrys Ministry of Health. Unlike the situation in the former Soviet Union a substantial proportion of married couples between 56 and 59% in the three countries practices contraception including both modern and traditional methods. There is also ample evidence that the reliance on abortion is diminishing in these countries as contraception is substituted. However there is no doubt that further significant declines in these abortion rates can occur with an increase in contraceptive use especially by women classified as having an unmet need for family planning. It is also critical to understand that the failure rate of contraception has to be reduced by the use of more effective modern methods in order to achieve major reductions in abortion.