Critical appraisal of the law enforcement in abortion care in Ethiopia

To illustrate the disparity in the law enforcement in abortion care and the widely reported induced abortion rates.

A descriptive study.

The computer-entered data from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Police Information and Documentation Center.

Two hundred and sixteen case files handled by the police in the last two years. The data of 326 subjects accused of alleged abortion related legal wrong doings were analysed for age, marital status, educational level, occupation and the due process in the court of law. The magnitude of induced abortions is reviewed from the available institutional based studies.

The majority of aborting mothers, the service providers and their accomplices are found to be young, unmarried, poorly educated and of low socio-economic profile. The files that are under investigation and pending court rulings are remarkably high. The published incidence of induced abortion ratio of 318 per 1,000 live births is disproportionately greater than those that actually come under the attention of the law.

The 1957 law is not officially repealed and its restrictive nature is not influencing the prevalence of illicitly induced abortions since the legal instruments are not fully operational. This is the consequence of fewer complaints advanced to the police and/or lack of obligatory reporting system of the events by the service delivery points.