Bakgrund: Avbrytande av graviditet innebär att fostret utförskaffas ur livmodern innan graviditetsvecka 22, spontant eller genom induktion. En inducerad abort kan ske medicinskt eller kirurgiskt. Cirka 56 miljoner aborter sker årligen i ett globalt perspektiv. Barnmorskan ska stödja kvinnan i abortvården samt verka för att ge jämställd och rättvis vård baserad på vetenskap och beprövad erfarenhet utifrån ett socialt-, ekonomiskt- och kulturellt perspektiv. Barnmorskan utvecklas i sin yrkesroll genom kunskap och erfarenhet. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att belysa kvinnors erfarenheter av medicinsk- eller kirurgisk abort i ett globalt perspektiv. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en metasyntes med kvalitativ ansats. Femton (15) vetenskapliga artiklar utgör resultatet. Resultat: Fyra huvudkategorier identifierades otillgänglighet och konsekvenser för kvinnan, ekonomiska faktorer, stigma samt autonomi. Resultatet visar att kvinnorna upplever att restriktiv lagstiftning skapar en stor oro och kan ge desperation. Detta kan innebära att många kvinnor söker sig till osäkra alternativ om tillgången på säker abortvård inte finns tillgänglig. Aborten hade negativa ekonomiska konsekvenser för kvinnorna. Att få bestämma över sin egen kropp och känslan av kontroll var en viktig del i abortbeslutet för kvinnan. Slutsats: Brist på ekonomiska tillgångar och stigma gör att många kvinnor söker sig till osäkra abortalternativ. Den enskilda kvinnan bör få ta beslut som rör hennes egen kropp och själv besluta om när hon önskar skaffa barn vilket innebär att tillgängligheten på säker abortvård måste öka. Klinisk tillämpbarhet: Studien kan användas för att ge ökad kunskap om kvinnors upplevelser och erfarenheter vilket kan leda till en mer tillgänglig abortvård för kvinnor i ett globalt perspektiv. / Background: Termination of pregnancy is when a fetus is removed from the uterus before pregnancy week 22, spontaneously or through induction. An induced abortion can be performed either medical or surgical. In a global perspective, each year around 56 million abortions are performed. The role of the Midwife in abortion care is to support the woman aiming to offer equal and equitable care based on proven experience and with a social-, economical- and cultural perspective. The professional skills of the midwife is developing through knowledge and experience. Objective: The aim of the study was to identify womens experiences of medical- or surgical abortion in a global perspective. Method: The study was conducted as a qualitative metasynthesis. Fifteen (15) scientific articles were included in the result. Result: Four main categories were identified inaccessibility and consequences for the woman, economical factors, stigma and autonomy. The result shows that the women experience that restrictive legislations makes women anxious and instill feelings of desperation. Many women are considering unsafe alternatives when safe abortion care isn’t accessible. The abortion had negative financial consequences for the women. To decide about their own body and having a feeling of control was an important part in the decision of abortion for the woman. Conclusion: Lack of financial assets and stigma means that many women seek unsafe abortion options. The individual woman should be able to make decisions concerning her own body and decide for herself when she wants to have children, which means that access to safe abortion care must increase. Clinical applicability: The study can be used to provide increased knowledge about womens experiences which can lead to a more accessible abortion care for women in a global perspective.

The introduction of abortion legalisation in South Africa during 1997 gave rise to the need for pre- and post-abortion counselling. Two dominant counselling groups came to the fore namely pro-choice and pro-life, reflecting the respective stances of society on abortion. In order to answer the following research questions: "What value-challenges do abortion counsellors experience, if any?" and "What ways have they found in negotiating these challenges?" A narrative conversation was used to come to an understanding of these research questions in practice. Research was undertaken with counsellors from both pro-life and pro-choice stances. The influence of capitalism, patriarchy and religion on role players confronted with making decisions on abortion was explored. Pro-choice counsellors negotiated their values in terms of forgiveness based on the unconditional forgiveness they would expect from God and pro-life counsellors in terms of God's forgiveness for the client, accepting her own responsibility for the consequences of the abortion. / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

The study sought to assess the knowledge of adolescents regarding abortion in a selected area in Lagos Nigeria. The researcher used a non-experimental, exploratory, descriptive research design for the study. One hundred adolescents participated in the study. The study found that many adolescents will not admit to having had an abortion. Moreover, the respondents gave different meanings for abortion, had inadequate knowledge of abortion and sexual and reproductive health. Cultural taboos and religious beliefs have a great impact on adolescents’ sexual behaviour. Most adolescents would not access abortions services because they regard it as killing an innocent baby. Efforts should be strengthened to make contraceptives and family life education available and accessible to the adolescents. / Health Studies / Thesis (M.A. (Health Studies))

Law / LL.M.

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Hierdie studie toon dat vroue wat vir terminasie van swangerskappe aanmeld, se behoeftes wyer as bloot die verwydering van die fetus strek. Die diversiteit van probleme, vra 'n beradingsbenadering wat holisties van aard is. Indien die sosiale, psigiese en spirituele behoeftes nie aangespreek word nie, het ons in die holistiese hantering gefaal. Die Department Huisartskunde waar ek werksaam is, beywer hom vir 'n holistiese benadering van die pasient. Hierdie benadering word ook deur die huidige SuidAfrikaanse Regering onderskryf. Die vrou met die ongewenste swangerskap het 'n behoefte om, behalwe die fisieke probleme, in totaliteit verstaan en gehoor te word. Sy smag na 'n berader wat saam met haar deur die kompleksiteit van die probleem kan dink en voel. Die holistiese benadering behels die fisieke sowel as die psigiese, maatskaplike en spirituele behoeftes. Die studie het te doen met 'n soeke na 'n beradingsbenadering wat in al die behoeftesvan die vrou sal voorsien. / This study demonstrates that the needs of women requesting a termination of pregnancy extend much further than the mere removal of the foetus. The diversity of problems demands a counselling approach that is holistic in nature. We will fail in this holistic management, should the social, psychological and spiritual needs not be addressed. The Department of Family Medicine where I am employed strives towards a holistic approach to the patient. This approach is also endorsed by the present South African Government. The woman with an unwanted pregnancy needs to be heard and understood in totality, over-and-above the physical problem. She yearns for a counsellor who can think and feel through the complexity of the problem together with her. The holistic approach includes the physical, as well as the psychological, social and spiritual aspects. The study involves a search for a counselling approach which provides for all these needs of the women. / Practical Theology / M.Th. (Praktiese Teologie - met spesialisering in Pastorale Terapie)

Background: In many developing countries, maternal deaths occur mainly as a result of unsafe abortions, a situation reflecting the inaccessibility of safe abortion services in such countries. In Ethiopia, unsafe abortion accounts for 32% of maternal deaths and almost 60% of gynaecological admissions, and is one of the top ten causes of general hospital admissions. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the views of women about the accessibility of safe abortion services in governmental health centres. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional descriptive and non-experimental study using structured questionnaires was conducted. 342 women who had received abortion care services in governmental health centres participated. Findings: 46.8% of the participants do not know about the penal code regarding safe abortion care. 52.9% of the participants viewed safe abortion care as inaccessible because there are various and competing factors which make abortion service to be viewed as accessible or inaccessible and these include distance to nearest health centre, the time it takes to receive the service, the cost of the service, and the lack of appropriate skills in the service providers. Conclusion: An improvement in the accessibility of abortion services will prevent deaths resulting from unsafe abortions / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

This thesis is about the legal and moral status of abortion. It is primarily concerned with the metaphysical status of the foetus, with particular attention to the question whether the foetus is properly characterised as a person in the philosophical sense. The argument of the thesis proceeds in two parts. The first part surveys certain lines of argument to the effect that the question of prenatal personhood is immaterial to the moral and legal permissibility of abortion. Against these claims, it argues that the personhood status of the foetus is indeed central to the moral and legal appraisal of abortion practice. The second part focuses on the metaphysical question in its own right. The thesis proposes a theoretical underpinning for the ‘gradualist’ view of human life before birth, according to which the human foetus is a fuller instantiation of a person the more biologically developed it is. It sets out to defend the kernel of the gradualist thesis against a cluster of criticisms, commonly advanced by those who endorse the belief that the personhood of human beings begins at conception. One notable challenge of this sort, which the thesis aims to address, asserts that any graduated account of personhood before birth is logically inconsistent with basic human equality. Finally, the thesis considers a few practical implications for the legal regulation of abortion stemming from the gradualist thesis, and the rule of law standards by which a regulatory framework must abide.

On t.p.: Werkstuk vir die graad van Magister in Lettere en Wysbegeerte (Voorligtingsielkunde) / Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Adolescence is viewed as the transitional stage between childhood and adulthood. Development during this stage centres on identity, sexuality, cognition and morality. Abortion during adolescence demands a careful decision-making process. Research has shown that the adolescent's reaction to abortion is determined by the decision-making process that was adopted. This paper provides a literature review of developmental issues and the capacity of adolescents to make decisions about reproduction and motherhood. The conclusion is reached that age is not the determinant of the emotional state following abortion, but rather the nature of the decision-making process that was followed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Adolessensie word beskou as die oorgangsfase tussen die kinderjare en volwassenheid. Ontwikkeling tydens hierdie fase sentreer rondom identiteit, seksualiteit, kognisie en moraliteit. Aborsie tydens adolessensie vereis 'n indringende besluitnemingsproses. Navorsing het bewys dat die adolessent se reaksie op aborsie deur die besluitnemingsproses bëinvloed word. Hierdie werkstuk verskaf 'n literatuuroorsig van ontwikkelingsaspekte en die kapasiteit van adolessente om besluite oor voortplanting en moederskap te neem. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat die emosionele toestand na 'n aborsie nie bepaal word deur ouderdom nie, maar wel deur die aard van die besluitnemingsproses wat gevolg is

Bakgrund: Abort innebär att en redan etablerad graviditet avbryts. Planerad abort avser en abort som är framkallad. Livmodern utryms via läkemedelsinducerad metod eller med ett kirurgiskt ingrepp. Abort styrks av abortlagen som innebär att abort får utföras till och med graviditetsvecka 18. Efter graviditetsvecka18 krävs ett godkännande från Socialstyrelsen. Moraliska aspekter kan knytas an till abort och kvinnor som söker abort kan vara moraliskt plågade av vad som är rätt och fel. Sjuksköterskor medverkar i en stor del av abortprocessen som innefattar rådgivning, administration av läkemedel, smärtlindring och efterkontroller. Sjuksköterskor får inte påverka kvinnans beslut till abort. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturöversikt var att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att vårda kvinnor som genomgår en planerad abort. Metod: En litteraturöversikt i enlighet med Friberg har gjorts. Åtta vetenskapliga artiklar valdes. Samtliga visade sig vara av kvalitativ forskning och design. Resultat: Sjuksköterskor upplevde abortvården som utmanande, både emotionellt och moraliskt. Återkommande och sen abort är något som tycks påverka sjuksköterskor. Trots detta så strävar sjuksköterskor efter att driva en kvinnocentrerad vård med fokus på kvinnan som patient och inte fostret. De accepterar och stödjer kvinnans beslut och förhåller sig till att det är kvinnans rättighet att få en önskad abort utförd. Brist på stöd och support upplevdes,samtidigt som sjuksköterskor upplevde att  de går mot en mer aktiv roll med ökad involvering inom abortvården. Diskussion: Metod och resultatet diskuteras och utvärderas. Resultatet diskuteras utifrån nya artiklar samt med förankring i Joyce Travelbee’s omvårdnadsteori. / Background: Abortion implies that an established pregnancy is terminated. An abortion is performed by a drug-induced method or by a surgical intervention whereby the uterus is deflated. Abortion is legally attainable up until and including the 18th week of pregnancy, after which an abortion is subject to a required approval from the National Board of Health and Welfare. However, ethical aspect is associated with the concept of abortion; women pursuing abortion are exposed to the risk of being morally tormented owing to the nature of their conduct. Nurses participate in an extended part of the abortion process, including counseling, drug administration, pain management, and post-abortion examinations. However, nurses are not allowed to influence the decision of whether to pursue abortion. Aim: The aim of the present literature review was to describe the nurses’ experience of caring for the woman undergoing a planned abortion. Method: The literature review was performed in accordance with Friberg. Eight articles were studied and all of them were based on a qualitative research design. Results: Nurses perceived abortion care as challenging, both emotionally and morally. Recurrent and late abortion seemed to affect nurses. Nevertheless, nurses strived to provide a women-centered care, with focus on the woman as a patient, not the fetus. Accordingly, nurses accepted and supported the decision of the women, as justified by the right of the women to receive the abortion treatment. However, with nursesincreased involvement and therefore increased involvement in the abortion care, lack of support was experienced. Discussion: The method and result were discussed and evaluated. The result was discussed based on new articles and anchored in Joyce Travelbee’s nursing theory.

Bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1) is a pathogen of cattle, which most commonly affects the upper respiratory tract to cause infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR). It can also spread systemically to cause fatalities in calves and abortion in pregnant cattle. The virally encoded mechanisms of this systemic spread are poorly understood and therefore have been addressed by comparing isolates from the respiratory form of disease with isolates that have previously demonstrated systemic spread. A survey of 400 bovine abortions in Scotland from 2007-2009 demonstrated a BoHV-1 prevalence of 2.5%. It also demonstrated the importance of real-time PCR as a diagnostic technique when analysing samples from natural cases. The study of BoHV-1 distribution in the placenta and foetal tissue provided support for a haematogenous route of viral spread. Whole genome sequencing of 11 BoHV-1 isolates using Illumina Solexa technology was completed and added significantly to the sequencing data of BoHV-1. In terms of identifying genetic variation between isolates causing respiratory infection and those causing systemic infection, no differences were observed by SNP or phylogenetic analysis. However, there were significant differences in the extent of variation between essential and non-essential genes, which may reflect the evolution of BoHV-1. An in vivo challenge of the natural host to compare two isolates representing the respiratory and systemic forms of infection showed differences in clinical presentation, histopathological analysis, viral distribution and viral transcript expression, measured throughout the infection period. In particular, it was noted that a more severe ocular infection, rather than respiratory based infection was caused by infection with the ‘systemic’ isolate. Differences in the tropism of the virus were observed early in the infection with the ‘systemic’ isolate showing more association with the nasal mucosa than the trachea. The tonsils demonstrated different responses to the virus and differences in viral transcript expression. However, this may simply represent different stages of virus infection. Both isolates demonstrated spread to the brain at day 10 post infection. In vitro methods were used to study the differences in transcript expression in more detail. In a bovine turbinate cell infection faster replication of the respiratory isolate was observed by a significantly faster development of cytopathic effect. This was also reflected in the higher gene expression levels of the respiratory isolate in the first 12 hours of infection. More isolates were studied to investigate whether these differences were consistent, or as suggested by the sequencing, random differences between isolates. Six isolates were used to infect bovine lung slices. Differences in transcript expression were minimal between the two isolate groups. Immunofluorescence did not provide the sensitivity to detect virus in all samples where PCR showed replication. This compromised the study of co-localization but did show promise as a model to study the tropism of respiratory viruses. Overall, this work has showed that systemic spread of BoHV-1 does not appear to be controlled by virally encoded mechanisms. The in vivo experimental infection suggested host factors may play a large part. Further work is also needed to consider any differences that may exist between reactivated virus and the original infecting isolate.