The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #70565

Tamara Fetters, MPH¹, Lisa Bowen, MPH², and Hailemichael Gebreselassie, MD, PhD¹. (1) Research and Evaluation Unit, Ipas, 300 Market St, Ste 200, Chapel Hill, NC 27516, 919-960-5629, fetterst@ipas.org, (2) PATH, 300 Market St, Ste 200, Chapel Hill, NC 27510

Abortion is illegal in Ethiopia except to save the mother’s life or preserve her mental health, yet it is not uncommon. Abortion providers in Ethiopia include traditional healers, chemists, all types of trained and untrained medical practitioners, operating room cleaners and women’s friends. Some women try to induce an abortion using techniques including insertion of a root or a tube into the uterus, improperly performed dilation and curettage procedures, ingestion of harmful substances, and exertion of external force, all of which have high risks of morbidity or even death. Although not the only cause of maternal death, some of these unsafe abortion procedures certainly contribute to one of the highest Maternal Mortality Ratios in the world, 871 deaths per 100,000 live births. In this study we report on findings from 21 retrospective, open-ended, individual interviews with women who had had clandestine abortions. The interviews were conducted from April-June 2001 in and around Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Through these interviews we sought to gain insight into clandestine abortion, from women who have experienced it, eliciting information on these women’s livelihoods, social and familial support, feelings about and consequences of the abortion experience, circumstances of the pregnancy, reasons for termination, access to information about abortion, abortion procedures, and the abortion law. This qualitative study provides a deeper understanding of how some women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia have experienced abortion and how their society, their gender and the State have influenced their reproductive decision-making.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants should be able to discuss clandestine abortion experiences from the perspective of women living in a restrictive legal environment. Participants should also be able to describe several factors that led to these women's decisions to seek unsafe abortions.

Keywords: Abortion,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The presenter is a Research Associate for Ipas, an organization concerned with reducing the consequences of unsafe abortion and the manufacturer and distributor of MVA instruments.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.