First Study on the Incidence of Abortion Among Ugandan Adolescents Released
Research Sheds Light on Abortion and Postabortion Care Experiences
Sept 11, 2018
A new study by researchers at the U.S.-based Guttmacher Institute and Uganda’s Makerere University documents, for the first time, abortion rates and the severity of abortion-related complications among Ugandan adolescents aged 15–19. The study, published in Contraception, found that an estimated 57,000 abortions took place among Ugandan adolescents in 2013. The researchers also found that adolescents seeking postabortion care for complications resulting from an unsafe abortion or miscarriage did not face greater disadvantages in their abortion care experiences, compared with women older than 20. However, among those seeking postabortion care, unmarried women, including unmarried adolescents, were more likely than married women to experience severe complications.