UKRAINE

The democratic choice of development of a society is closely connected to observance of reproductive human rights, is equal as the right on worthy life, work and a meal. All people have reproductive rights. Rights are based on principles of human advantage and equality. Women to have a special role during reproduction of the population. The opportunity to carry out the reproductive rights depends on the status of women in a society. Women's health is the most important characteristic of a population's development, and upon it depend the health of future generations.

In Ukraine in many respects the modern condition of a question on reproductive rights has deep social and economic roots. Demographic and socio-economic analysis of the current situation show those 54.1% families in Ukraine want to have only one child or to temporarily delay having children. The total fertility rate, or the mean number of children born to a woman in her lifetime factored with the levels of age-specific fertility rates, has fallen from 1.9 in 1989 to 1.3 in 1998.

Recent years have witnessed rising mortality among women against the background of mortality in Ukraine, and to a certain degree women's illness has also risen. One of the most important criteria characterizing the health of women and the quality of obstetrics is maternal mortality, the level of which has not shown a tendency to decline. The indicator of maternal death varies among regions from 12 to 70 per 100,000 live births, averaging 30.4. The leading causes of maternal mortality in recent years are illnesses unrelated to pregnancy, blood loss, gestosis, septic complications, but the main cause of death is connect with abortion, which account 23% of all maternal deaths. In Ukraine annually about 300 women have died of complications due to abortion. Although abortion is legal in the Ukraine, it's very often performed under unsafe conditions. As a result abortion here has huge risk for the woman. In a basis of the decision of the woman for the benefit of abortion is to solve social, economic, legal and psychological factors.

From the middle of 50-th in former USSR operation of abortion is legal and should be made in medical institution. Term of pregnancy when abortion is possibly to make legally is till 12 weeks of pregnancy. From times of disintegration of the Soviet Union this policy has not changed and was continued in independent Ukraine. Pregnancy in term from 12 to 24 weeks can be interrupted under the decision of the medical commission, according to the list of indications. For the women of Ukraine, over several decades, abortion has been the basic method of regulating nationality. The number of abortions in Ukraine today is one of the highest in the world. Though the official number of abortions has significantly declined during last years, the level of abortions per 1000 women of reproductive age is still higher in many countries In 1991 in Ukraine was 77.6 on 1000 women of reproductive age, in 1999 - 36.7 on 1000 women of reproductive age. Against the background of a lower number of officially registered abortions is the unfavorable tendency toward rising numbers of abortions in the first pregnancy. In 1997 this indicator rose two times that of 1989. In 22% of infertility among Ukrainian women is artificial interruption of pregnancy.

The situation with reproductive health that has arisen in Ukraine can be explained by the inadequate system of information on all aspects of family planning, the low level of the population's sexual culture, its lack of knowledge concerning reproductive behavior, irresponsible parenthood and an inadequately developed family planning service. Adoption of contemporary methods of contraception would foster a lower number of abortions, prevent unwanted pregnancies and, also, regulate the number of children in the family and the selection of the best time for their birth.