Illegal Abortions a Major Killer of Women in Ethiopia

According to the World Health Organization, complications arising from illegal abortions are now the second leading cuase of death for young women in Ethiopia. Only tuberculosis kills more young women in that poverty-stricken nation.

Abortion is illegal in Ethiopia except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger, but illegal abortions are easy to obtain and widespread. According to WHO, the death rate from illegal abortions in Ethopia is a staggering 1,209 per 100,000 abortions. In the United States, by contrast, the death rate from legal abortions is about 1 per 100,000.

A number of factors help to make the death rate so high, including a lack of access to contraception, a very low literacy rate among women (only about 14 percent of women are literate), and Ethiopia’s poverty which leads to ony about US $1.50 per person being spent on health care resources annually.

Source:

High Death Rate from Illegal Abortions. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, October 28, 2002.

Teens Pay The Deadly Price Of Religious Taboo. Tewedaj Kebede, Panos, July 2001.

Many Ethiopian Teens Dying from Illegal Abortions. Women’s E-News, November 4, 2002.

7 thoughts on “Illegal Abortions a Major Killer of Women in Ethiopia”

  1. Abortion must be allowed!!!! let me ask you one Q that Is that possible to protect or band mothers/ sisters in doing abortion? i dont think so……………………. instead of prohabiting abortion, it will be better to facilitat social services, education, hospitals, contraceptive methods etc…………………

  2. NO NO NO my friend.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do we have moral standing to band such action? think about 1000000000000000000000000000000000 mothers life past because of illegality of abortion…………… let us make it open, free and protective, after that we can start toolking about the other issuse

  3. abortion is disgusting we don’t have to encourage abortion by any means b/c it has no benefits at all!! we can c that in brief for example women who is having an abortion faces a 2.3 times higher risk of having cervical cancer,uterine perforation,cervical laceration,placenta previa ,subsequent pre-term deliveries and complications of labor,ectopic pregnancy,pelvic inflammatory disease and other UN mentioned complications and at last death!! this is the scientific proves of legal abortion not the illegal!! and from the other side according to religion its totally sin we cant compromise it! so we should say no instead of encouraging! b/c its no more beneficiary.

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