Objectives:

to describe and analyze the social, demographic, and gynecological and obstetrical factors related to induced abortion in Bolivia between 2018 and 2022.

Methods:

This is a quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study. The data were collected from women living in Bolivia who participated in an anonymous survey between May and August 2022.

Results:

63% were between 21 and 30 years old, 32.2% were between 15 and 20 years old, 46.3% were professionals, and 31.5% had achieved a high school degree. The percentage of women who used only highly effective MACs was 47%, while 53% used very low-efficacy MACs. Most of the women who marked strong social influence were between 21 and 30 years old, and 50% of these cases were students with different levels of education. 93.6% of the women who are satisfied with their desire for motherhood do not have children.

Conclusions:

In Bolivia, the majority of women who opt for an induced abortion are single women between 21 and 30 years old, are still studying, do not have children and do not want them at the moment. Young women often make the decision to have an abortion together with their partner. In almost half of the cases, a trusted contraceptive was used, but it still resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. The most commonly used method during the first trimester is misoprostol.

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