National Abortion Survey - Brazil, 2021

Abstract

The National Abortion Survey 2021 (PNA 2021) utilized face-to-face structured interviews and a self-administered questionnaire placed in a sealed box to collect data on abortions in Brazil. Interviews were held with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 women, randomly selected from among literate women ages 18 to 39 residing in urban areas. We compared some of the results with previous waves of the survey, PNA 2010 and PNA 2016. Findings show that abortion is in decline but remains a major public health issue. Around 10% of the women interviewed in 2021 said they had had at least one abortion in their lives (compared to 15% in 2010). We estimate that nearly one in every seven women (15%) have had an abortion by the age of 40. We identified a decline in the proportion of women who needed to be hospitalized to finalize their abortions (55% in 2010; 43% in 2021; p = 0.003) and in the proportion of women who used medication for the abortion (48% in 2010; 39% in 2021; p = 0.028). Abortion is an event that generally happens early on in women's reproductive lives: the PNA 2021 found that 52% of women were 19 years old or younger when they had their first abortion. Higher rates were detected among respondents with lower educational levels, Black and Indigenous women, and women residing in poorer regions.