Maternal mortality, unsafe abortion, unwanted pregnancies and their surroundings in Uganda: are we sure that we need legal abortion?

Abstract

“Maternal mortality in Uganda, is at unacceptably high levels. A sizeable proportion of it is caused by consequences of abortion (either spontaneous or induced). Induced abortion is occurring now as it has always occurred in all cultures and societies and in all ages. A fatal outcome of induced abortion for the mother is quite often due to a poor handling of the procedure of abortion, conducted by non skilled medical staff and in unsafe environment, concealed from sight for fear of the harshness of the law which condemns it as a criminal act. Therefore, if abortions are happening with such frequency and have such dramatic consequences for the woman undergoing it through unskilled hands, if a good number of maternal deaths could be averted by making abortion safer, if the harshness of the law is the major cause for its non-safety……… why not adopt a pragmatic approach and bring abortion out from the concealment of crime to the light of a legitimate health service, providing it in a safe environment and by skilled hands? This will take us a long way in bringing down maternal mortality rates and decreasing the burden of suffering carried by women.”