121m Pregnancies Each Year Are Unintended Globally, Says UN

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Some 121 million pregnancies around the world each year are unintended with this amounting to almost half of all pregnancies, according to a new United Nations study.

Researchers said this equates to an average of around 331,000 unplanned pregnancies each day as they warned the issue constitutes a “human rights crisis” which has far-reaching ramifications for “societies, women and girls and global health”.

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The report, carried out by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), notes over 60 per cent of unintended pregnancies result in an abortion, while an estimated 45 per cent of all abortions around the world are dangerous.

Researchers, whose section of the United Nations strives to boost reproductive and maternal health, said some five to 13 per cent of all maternal deaths are the by-product of unsafe backstreet, clandestine abortions. The pregnancy terminations are carried out in contexts where abortion is illegal, highly restricted or too expensive to afford.
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