Scenes : On the Front Lines: Vignettes From Four Nations

In every abortion, of course, there is a baby that, for whatever reason, will go unborn. The word (from the Latin aboriri : to miscarry) covers both the furtive operation carried out in a dirty cellar in the heart of teeming Cairo and what a poor, illiterate Latin American peasant woman pathetically prays will happen when she quaffs a dose of herbal tea.

Here are Times reports from several nations:

Mexico

In predominantly Roman Catholic Mexico, abortion is against the law. But at the Sonora Market in downtown Mexico City, widely known for its stalls of herbs, teas, potions and other traditional medicines, an elderly seller confesses to having a special recipe.

It induces abortions, says the woman as she sits beside her bundles and bales of fresh, aromatic herbs. Though she will not specify the ingredients of the secret formula-- soplaque compuesto --she says it includes 20 different herbs. The mix sells for $30 per kilogram (about 2.2 pounds). To cause an abortion, the full kilo should be steeped like tea in about a quart of water for five hours, then swallowed all at once.

Despite being strictly banned, an estimated 2 million abortions are carried out in Mexico each year. About 5,000 women die annually from the aftereffects of folk remedies or the squalid conditions common in clandestine operations.