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The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on December 7, 2007
The European Journal of Public Health 2008 18(2):144-149; doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckm112
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© 2007. The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Health Inequalities

Induced abortion in Denmark: effect of socio-economic situation and country of birth

Vibeke Rasch1, Tine Gammeltoft2, Lisbeth B. Knudsen3, Charlotte Tobiassen4, Annelie Ginzel5 and Lillan Kempf6

1 Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2 Institute of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
3 Department of Sociology, Social Work and Organization, Aalborg University, Denmark
4 Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark
5 Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, Aalborg Hospital, Denmark
6 Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, Randers Hospital, Denmark

Correspondence: Vibeke Rasch, MD, PhD, Department of International Health, Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen University, Denmark, tel: +45 35 32 74 72, fax: +45 35 32 77 36, e-mail: v.rasch{at}pubhealth.ku.dk

Received November 2, 2006 , accepted October 30, 2007

Background: Equal access to health care is considered a key in Scandinavian healthcare policy. However, problematic differences between the socio-economic situation of immigrants and that of native Scandinavians are increasingly challenging this aspect of the Scandinavian welfare model. The present study focuses on how socio-economic characteristics and country of birth are associated with induced abortion. Methods: A structured questionnaire was used to collect information among 1351 women requesting abortion and a control group of 1306 women intending birth. Results: The strongest factor associated with the decision to have an abortion was being single (OR 39.1; 23.8–64.2), followed by being aged 19 years or below (OR 29.6; 13.4–65.5), having two children or more (OR 7.05; 5.29–9.39) and being unskilled (OR 2.48; 1.49–4.10), student (OR 2.29; 1.52–3.43) or unemployed (OR 1.65; 1.11–2.46). When evaluating the effect of social exposure on abortion among Danish-born and foreign-born women, the higher rate of abortion among non-Westerners was found to be caused by the composition of non-Westerners more often being unemployed, having a low income and having two or more children rather than the fact that they are coming from a non-Western country. Conclusion: Immigrant women comprise a vulnerable group, with a poor socio-economic status. This situation exposes immigrant women to increased risk of induced abortion. In a society with an increasing heterogeneous population, the vulnerable situation of immigrant women has to be addressed, if equal access to health care is to be maintained.

Keywords: Denmark, equity, induced abortion, immigrant, socio-economic


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L. H Mortensen
Comment on "Induced abortion in Denmark: effect of socio-economic situation and country of birth"
Eur J Public Health, October 1, 2008; 18(5): 539 - 540.
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Re: Induced abortion in Denmark: effect of socio-economic situation and country of birth
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