{"title":"Abortion legalization, teen sexual and reproductive health behaviors, and women's empowerment in South Africa.","authors":"Getrude Njokwe, Yoko Kijima","doi":"10.1186/s41043-025-01034-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Restrictive abortion laws in many African nations are associated with risks such as unsafe procedures and teenage motherhood. This study examines how abortion legalization influences sexual and reproductive health and women's empowerment in South Africa, using a difference-in-differences design. Analyzing variations in birth cohorts and access to health care facilities with abortion services across provinces, the study finds no direct causal impact of the abortion policy on teenage motherhood, fertility rates, early sexual debut, high school completion, or college attendance, though negative associations with teenage motherhood and fertility rates and positive associations with early sexual debut, high school completion, and college attendance, were observed. The study suggests that limited access to health care facilities with abortion services and cultural taboos contribute to underreporting of behaviors. Given these findings, we recommend prioritizing access to contraception and creating supportive environments for adolescent girls living in vulnerable situations, including improved access to health care facilities that offer abortion services.</p>","PeriodicalId":15969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition","volume":"44 1","pages":"302"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12369060/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-025-01034-7","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Restrictive abortion laws in many African nations are associated with risks such as unsafe procedures and teenage motherhood. This study examines how abortion legalization influences sexual and reproductive health and women's empowerment in South Africa, using a difference-in-differences design. Analyzing variations in birth cohorts and access to health care facilities with abortion services across provinces, the study finds no direct causal impact of the abortion policy on teenage motherhood, fertility rates, early sexual debut, high school completion, or college attendance, though negative associations with teenage motherhood and fertility rates and positive associations with early sexual debut, high school completion, and college attendance, were observed. The study suggests that limited access to health care facilities with abortion services and cultural taboos contribute to underreporting of behaviors. Given these findings, we recommend prioritizing access to contraception and creating supportive environments for adolescent girls living in vulnerable situations, including improved access to health care facilities that offer abortion services.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition brings together research on all aspects of issues related to population, nutrition and health. The journal publishes articles across a broad range of topics including global health, maternal and child health, nutrition, common illnesses and determinants of population health.