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Table 2 Knowledge of legal indications of abortion at baseline and endline, by sex and overall (nā€‰=ā€‰2,543)

From: Evaluation of a multi-pronged intervention to improve access to safe abortion care in two districts in Jharkhand

Ā 

Male

Female

Total

Ā 

Baseline

Endline

Ā 

Baseline

Endline

Ā 

Baseline

Endline

Ā 
Ā 

(nā€‰=ā€‰620)

(nā€‰=ā€‰645)

Ā 

(nā€‰=ā€‰633)

(nā€‰=ā€‰645)

Ā 

(nā€‰=ā€‰1,253)

(nā€‰=ā€‰1,290)

Ā 
Ā 

%

%

p-value

%

%

p-value

%

%

p-value

Legal indications

Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 

Pregnancy due to contraceptive failure

13.5

36.1

<0.001

13.9

42.6

<0.001

13.7

39.4

<0.001

Rape

14.4

59.5

<0.001

12.8

59.7

<0.001

13.6

59.6

<0.001

Women's health in danger

13.9

36.3

<0.001

17.5

53.2

<0.001

15.7

44.7

<0.001

Serious fetal deformity

13.5

30.4

<0.001

15.2

44.0

<0.001

14.4

37.2

<0.001

Gestational limit

Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 

Legal for pregnancy only up to 20Ā weeks1

8.1

0.5

<0.001

4.1

0.0

<0.001

6.1

0.2

<0.001

Correct knowledge of the law 2

18.9

30.7

<0.001

23.9

57.8

<0.001

21.4

44.3

<0.001

  1. 1Pregnancy beyond 20Ā weeks is not legal under the MTP Act.
  2. 2This includes both legal indications and the gestational limit. Under the 1971 Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, abortion is legal in India for a wide range of indications: to save the womanā€™s life and in cases of grave threats to the womanā€™s physical or mental health, as well as in cases of rape, fetal abnormality or failure of contraception for married women.