Abortion safety in Ghana: does motivation matter?
Jalang Conteh1, Maureen Lahiff1, Kim Harley1
1School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way West, Berkeley, CA, 94704, United States.
BMC Public Health
|November 1, 2025
Summary
Women in Ghana seeking abortions for non-legal reasons face higher risks of unsafe procedures. Expanding legal grounds for abortion could improve maternal safety.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Reproductive Health
- Medical Sociology
Background:
- Abortion is restricted in Ghana, with unsafe abortions contributing to 11% of maternal deaths.
- This study addresses the critical link between abortion motivation and the safety of procedures in Ghana.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between women's primary reasons for seeking an abortion and the safety of the procedure.
- To provide evidence for policy recommendations regarding abortion law in Ghana.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 1,425 women from the 2017 Ghana Maternal Health Survey.
- Abortion safety categorized using WHO standards, adapted for the Ghanaian context.
- Multinomial logistic regression used to examine the relationship between abortion motivation and safety.
Main Results:
- Only 9% of abortions were sought for legal reasons.
- Women with non-legal motivations had significantly higher odds of undergoing least safe abortions.
- Specific motivations like education, birth spacing, lack of support, and financial constraints increased the risk of unsafe abortions (ORs ranging from 4.6 to 6.5).
Conclusions:
- Seeking abortion for non-legal reasons in Ghana is strongly associated with higher risks of unsafe procedures.
- Recommendations include expanding Ghana's abortion law to encompass broader motivations, thereby promoting access to safe and legal abortions.
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