| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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of abortion among policymakers. Differing opinions on abortion in Muslim states are further complicated by religious beliefs (Bowen, 1997). In Muslim communities, the question on use of abortion revolves around the timing of ensoulment (the endoWoment of a soul), which, within many religious schools, varies from 40 to 120 days. Although these religious schools including Shia’te and Sunni, may disagree on allowing abortions, they all support abortion in specific situations when the health of the mother is in danger. As in most Muslim countries in the Middle East, abortion is not a widely discussed topic in Yemen. Before the country's 1990 unification, abortion was prohibited in Yemen except to save the life of the mother. Differences between theological ideas and political opinions regarding abortion, together with a lack of accurate demographic data and the restrictive preunification abortion laws, make it difficult to estimate the prevalence of abortion in Yemen (Potts & Masho, 1995). It is also difficult to ascertain the prevalence of abortion in Yemen on the basis of the few questions that have tried to address the topic in national surveys. These surveys often combine questions concerning induced abortions and spontaneous abortions (i.e., miscarriage), which complicates the situation further. As a consequence, the literature on abortion in Yemen is quite limited.
In general, the economic and demographic characteristics of Yemen are very similar to those of many developing countries; however, Yemen's economic and demographic indicators are lower compared with all the Middle Eastern countries. In Yemen, 71.7% of the population is living in rural areas, compared with 21.0% in Jordan and 34.0% in Turkey (PRB, 2008). The majority of Yemen's population is engaged in nonskilled and agricultural activities (54.6%), and the majority also depends on nonpipe water sources (e.g., wells, ponds; 57.6%). The proportion of females who are illiterate is highest in Yemen (78.9%)