Abortion rates in Europe and Russia

From GeoCurrents, where the focus was on Russia, Belarus and Ukraine:

A recent paper by one of our readers, demographer Boris Denisov and his colleagues Victoria I. Sakevich and Aiva Jasilioniene, published in PLoS ONE, shows that “the last decade witnessed growing differences in abortion dynamics in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine despite demographic, social, and historical similarities of these nations”...

Since the discrepancies in abortion rates cannot be accounted for by differences in abortion legislation, Denisov and colleagues propose to look for an explanation in terms of contraceptive knowledge and practices. While there are no legal barriers to using contraception (except with sterilization, which is subject to legal restrictions), the three countries exhibit different rates of contraceptive use... If the present trends continue, or if additional legal measures are taken by Russian government to restrict birth control, the researchers predict that the abortion gap between Russia and neighboring Belarus and Ukraine will grow ever more significant.

Via Gazeta Orientale and Fuck Yeah Cartography!