Kathmandu, May 21: Maternal deaths from unsafe abortions would be much higher if private doctors had not provided abortion services on fear of legal action.

This is what a survey recently conducted by the Centre for Research on Environment, Health and Population Activities (CREHPA) on unwanted pregnancy, fetus test and unsafe abortion concludes.

A press conference was organized here today to highlight the findings of the survey, which also says over 51 per cent of the gynecologists outside Kathmandu valley and 21 per cent within the valley confirmed that their clients are curious to know the sex of the fetus when they visit the doctors for pregnancy test.

The survey, which covered 61 leading gynecologists, 28 in Kathmandu and 33 outside the valley, reveals that a large number of women outside the valley prefer to terminate pregnancy if the sex determination test show the fetus being a girl. The corresponding proportion within Kathmandu valley is lower.

Opinion of the doctors differ on whether or not legalizing abortion would increase sex selective abortions in the country, only about a third of the doctors believe that sex selective abortions will increase to a large extent.

On the other hand, less than a half (46%) of the doctors believe that sex selective abortions will increase to some extent only and the remaining around one sixth (16%) of the doctors held the view that sex selective abortion would not increase at all.

Misuse of medical technology for sex determination tests with the sole intention of aborting female fetus subsequently, is a serious medical and gender based violence, says Anand Tamang, director of CREHPA.” “Nevertheless, liberalizing existing abortion law of essential to prevent unsafe abortion practice and to save women’s lives”, he emphasizes.

In this survey, 82% of the doctors outside the valley as against 39% within the valley reported that many unqualified persons in their towns perform abortions extensively.

The doctors identified five major reasons that compel women to seek unsafe abortion procedures in the country — restrictive abortion law, low economic status, high cost for abortion from qualified doctors, illiteracy, and lack of access to doctors.

The  three main strategies to prevent unskilled persons from performing abortions in the country as suggested by the doctors are legalizing abortion law, conducting awareness programme against unsafe abortion, and punishing those unskilled persons performing abortions.

Almost all doctors (93%) opined that liberalization of abortion law would help to reduce unsafe abortion related maternal morbidity and mortality in our country.