Jerry Coleman

Women Assessing Induced Abortion Services: the Culture of Rural Women Assessing Induced Abortion Services in Ghana Jerry Coleman

Unsafe abortion contributes significantly to maternal mortality. The bulk of induced abortions are unsafe. The clandestine nature of induced abortions hampers attempts to correctly estimate its magnitude. When a woman decides to end an unwanted pregnancy, she will often go to extreme lengths to do so regardless of whether the procedure is safe or legal. This book which contains very interesting findings worth reading, interviewed over 200 women assessing induced abortion services in a rural district of the Eastern region of Ghana and gives an account of the results in table and commentary form. At the very centre of induced abortion is the law. This book therefore analyzed the views and knowledge of these women on the abortion law as well as their religious, moral and cultural responses. It provides answers to questions about the reasons women give for seeking induced abortion services, the circumstances surrounding an unwanted pregnancy, why these women got pregnant in spite of the use of contraception, the proportion of women who had used contraception, and the desirability of the pregnancy at the time of the abortion procedure among others. Interestingly the major reas