By Golnaz Esfandiari and Mohammad Zarghami
In an attempt to boost Iran’s flagging population growth, the government approved a controversial law in 2021 that further tightened restrictions on medical abortions and banned the free distribution of contraceptives.
Now, officials have expressed alarm about the number of illegal abortions being carried out in the country, suggesting government restrictions have pushed more women to terminate unwanted pregnancies outside the public health-care system.
Women who seek an abortion in Iran often rely on the black market to obtain abortion pills that can be counterfeit or expired and ineffective. They also use underground abortion services by doctors and midwives that sometimes operate in unhygienic conditions.
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