ABSTRACT
With the advancement of globalization, economies are increasingly interconnected in such a way that large disruptive events, which would have had a limited global impact in the past, have become more frequent and widespread. Just to name a few, financial and economic crises (such as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis and the subsequent worldwide recession), natural disasters (such as the 2011 Japan earthquake), and epidemics (like the one caused by SARS in 2003), have all occurred over the last twenty years. The impact of such events varies. Some have caused massive reductions of demand (demand shock);others have led to a change in supply conditions, forcing firms to suspend or reduce their output (supply shock);and others have presented both characteristics. Financial crises, particularly, may cause a "deep deterioration of conditions in financial markets, leading to a severe credit crunch" (Colombo et al., 2016, p. 648). © Hamid Etemad 2022. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic may accentuate existing problems, hindering access to legal abortion, with a consequent increase in unsafe abortions. This scenario may be even worse in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Latin America, where abortion laws are already restrictive and access to services is already hampered. Our objective was to understand how different countries, with an emphasis on Latin Americans, have dealt with legal abortion services in the context of the COVID-19. Thus, we conducted a narrative review on abortion and COVID-19. The 75 articles included, plus other relevant references, indicate that the pandemic affects sexual and reproductive health services by amplifying existing problems and restricting access to reproductive rights, such as legal abortion. This impact may be even stronger in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Latin America, where access to legal abortion is normally restricted. The revision of sources in this article underlines the urgent need to maintain legal abortion services, both from women's perspective, in support of their reproductive rights, but also from that of the international commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Thereby, Latin American countries must place reproductive rights as a priority on their agendas and adapt legislation to accommodate alternative models of abortion care. Furthermore, our results underscore the need for clear information on the functioning of sexual and reproductive health services as essential for understanding the impact of the pandemic on legal abortion and to identify the groups most affected by the changes.