Rachel Murro, ETS PhD candidate, and DEB Associate Professor Nadia Diamond-Smith are part of a research team that published five articles in the September issue of The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia. The articles draw on findings from the Nepal Turnaway Study, a prospective cohort study examining the effects of abortion access by following abortion seekers who both received and were denied care. In one study, Murro and colleagues found that abortion access was protective against intimate partner violence, a particularly salient finding given that 20% of abortion seekers reported recent partner violence at the time they sought care. In another, Diamond-Smith and colleagues found that abortion access increased likelihood of continued schooling and decision-making autonomy, key indicators of women's empowerment. Many of the effects isolated by this study team persisted for up to five years after women sought abortion care, underscoring the importance of improving access in settings where abortion is legal but remains inaccessible to many.
- Patterns of intimate partner violence after abortion seeking in Nepal (2019–2024): a prospective cohort study
- The impact of abortion denial on women’s empowerment in Nepal (2019–2024): a prospective cohort study
- Self-rated mobility, physical health, and chronic pain among women seeking abortion in a health facility in Nepal (2019–2024): a prospective cohort study
- Access to abortion and subsequent fertility preferences and reproductive outcomes in Nepal (2019–2024): a prospective cohort study
- Antenatal care, birth outcomes, health, development, maternal bonding and nutrition among children of women seeking abortion in a health facility in Nepal (2019–2024): a prospective cohort study