44% Of World's Maternal Deaths From Unsafe Abortions Occur In Africa, Group Says

Forty-four percent of maternal deaths because of unsafe abortion worldwide occur in Africa, IPAS, an international sexual and reproductive health and rights organization, said Tuesday, Xhinua/People's Daily Online reports. More than four million women and girls in Africa undergo unsafe abortions annually, and about 34,000 of them die because of complications from the procedure, Ejike Oji, director of the IPAS country office in Nigeria, said. For example, in Nigeria, where abortion is illegal except to save the life of the pregnant woman, the maternal death rate is about 800 deaths per 100,000 live births, one of the highest rates in the world, Oji said. He added that the majority of the abortions in the country were performed under dangerous conditions and that more than 140,000 such procedures ended in hospitalization resulting from complications. In addition, "social stigma and political pressure render many health care providers unwilling to offer abortion services even within limits of the law," Oji said. He said that reproductive health networks and partners -- such as the Medical Women International Association, the National Council for Women Societies, the Federation of Women Lawyers and Civil Societies Organizations -- are increasing their efforts to reform the country's abortion law to include legal exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the pregnant women (Xhinua/People's Daily Online, 7/5).

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