Worldwide, approximately 70 out of the 205 million pregnancies yearly end in abortion. Of these, 42 million are induced abortions. Only a marginal dip in the abortion rate is seen over a decade. The present engagement is an attempt to enhance our understanding of the wealth inequalities and various factors associated with the uptake of abortion among Indian women. Data for the present study was obtained from National Family Health Survey-4 conducted in 2015–16. The findings from the income related inequalities indicate a pro-rich bias with relatively large inequalities in the uptake of abortion. Results further starks out the variations by different background characteristics in the incidence and intensity of inequality, thus discounting the fact that the unit of aggregation plays a key role in the assessment of relative inequalities in health. The inequalities are larger among the rural, illiterate, belonging to the lower strata, Hindu and other religion, and women from the Western region. Results from the regression analysis suggest that the chances of abortion are higher among richer women, women from rural areas, belonging to SC, OBCs or other caste and Hindus. Further, it increases with the increasing age of women at the time of abortion and with the education of women.

Gaur K. (2022). How far the wealth influences the uptake of abortion in India?  In: Somayajulu, U. V., Tiwari, V. K., Yadav, J., and Subrahmanyam, K. V. R. (Editors). Population Dynamics and Health Issues in India. New Delhi, Mount Hill Publishing Company.