Seeking care post-abortion agonises in Kenya, Tanzania

Restrictive abortion laws inflict deadly cost on fearful patients

by Nelly Madegwa and Rehema Mpemba
24 July 2025

In a small clinic on the outskirts of Nairobi, a young woman lies unconscious on a hospital bed, her body weakened by severe bleeding. Two days earlier, she had taken pills from an unlicensed chemist in a desperate attempt to terminate her pregnancy.

In Dar es Salaam, another woman fights for her life after consuming a dangerous herbal mixture meant to induce abortion.

Their stories are not unique. They represent thousands of women across Kenya and Tanzania who risk their lives each year due to restrictive abortion laws that push them towards unsafe procedures.

Despite both countries signing the Maputo Protocol, a treaty advocating for reproductive rights, Kenya and Tanzania continue to criminalise abortion, creating a paradox where women are denied safe healthcare even when their lives are at risk.

Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/big-read/2025-07-24-seeking-care-post-abortion-agonises-in-kenya-tanzania

UK woman accused of using pills for illegal abortion during Covid lockdown

Nicola Packer, 44, was arrested at a London hospital after reporting a miscarriage in 2020, court told

Hannah Al-Othman
Thu 24 Apr 2025

A woman has gone on trial in London accused of illegally taking pills in order to induce an abortion during the second coronavirus lockdown.

Nicola Packer, 44, was arrested in November 2020 after she went to hospital having miscarried a foetus, and later reported to staff that she had taken abortion medication.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/24/uk-woman-accused-using-pills-abortion-covid-lockdown

24.04.2025

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South Africa – Millions of rand go down the drain as state resources used for illegal abortion industry

Dec 10, 2023
Ntando Makhubu

AS South Africa sits on the edge of disaster resulting from the effects of unsafe abortions, communities and health experts have said what was devastating was the reality that not only were women and young girls endangering their lives by going the illegal route, but the real tragedy was the involvement of state officials, who supplied those who performed terminations and made millions from the illegal procedures.

This despite the country having put into place the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act in 1996, which allows women the right to safe abortions in hospitals and doctors’ rooms, up to 20 weeks of pregnancy to ensure safety and in keeping with the World Health Organisation’s prescripts.

Continued: https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/news/millions-of-rand-go-down-the-drain-as-state-resources-used-for-illegal-abortion-industry-0c8b9d44-bf19-4596-8e43-14459a7b562b

A brief history of abortion – from ancient Egyptian herbs to fighting stigma today

September 21, 2023
Alisha Palmer

You might be forgiven for thinking of abortion as a particularly modern phenomenon. But there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that abortion has been a constant feature of social life for thousands of years. The history of abortion is often told as a legal one, yet abortion has continued regardless of, perhaps even in spite of, legal regulation.

The need to regulate fertility before or after sex has existed for as long as pregnancy has. The Ancient Egyptian Papyrus Ebers is often seen as some of the first written evidence of abortion practice.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-abortion-from-ancient-egyptian-herbs-to-fighting-stigma-today-213033

Teenage girls turn to rat poison as unsafe abortion ‘epidemic’ spirals

Abortion is illegal in Sierra Leone, forcing women to abort unwanted pregnancies via dangerous practices. The consequences can be fatal

By Tom Collins
13 December 2022

Fanella Bola lay against the perimeter walls of a hospital in Sierra Leone and cried at the thought of going through with her pregnancy. The 17-year-old had been turned away from almost every hospital in the capital city of Freetown, where abortion is illegal.

As she dried her tears and prepared to trudge home, the schoolgirl was approached by a market woman who said there was another way.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/women-and-girls/teenage-girls-turn-rat-poison-unsafe-abortion-epidemic-spirals/

Accessing an abortion in regional Australia can feel like a race against time

ABC Everyday / By Rachel Rasker
May 29, 2022

Depending on where you live, it can take weeks to get a doctor's appointment. For women in regional areas, this can make accessing an abortion feel like a race against time. We spoke to two women, in Shepparton and Derby, about their experiences. These are their words.

Brittany's abortion experience in Shepparton, Victoria
I found out I was pregnant when my period was two days late. My partner and I were using condoms, so I was genuinely shocked.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/accessing-an-abortion-in-regional-australia/101101100

29.05.2022

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Legal but Stringent: Abortions in Zambia

September 10, 2021
By Marie-Simone Kadurira, safe2choose

Like many countries in Southern and East Africa, abortion legality in the context of Zambia is quite stringent. Unlike many of its neighbouring countries, such as Zimbabwe and Angola, Zambia has a more liberal abortion legislation. It also has a a unique stipulation [1] that allows for abortion upon request. As is evident in many countries where abortion upon request is allowed, access to the service is affected by much more than legislation. Lack of healthcare facilities that offer this service as well as stigma equally contribute to the inability to undergo safe abortions for many women. In this blog, we hope to highlight the legislative framework under which abortions in Zambia exist as well as shed light on the ways in which one can access the service.

Continued: https://www.mwebantu.com/legal-but-stringent-abortions-in-zambia/

10.09.2021

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UK – Woman in her 40s felt ‘scared and pressured’ by Marie Stopes when quizzed about ‘abortion reversal’ treatment she received from pro-life medic

By STEPHEN ADAMS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
3 July 2021

A vulnerable woman has told the General Medical Council she felt 'scared and pressured' when the medical director of a major abortion provider quizzed her about 'abortion reversal' treatment she received from a pro-life doctor.

The woman, a mother in her 40s, sought help from NHS consultant Dr Dermot Kearney after she started a 'pills by post' abortion, but then changed her mind.

Continued: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9753587/Woman-40s-felt-scared-pressured-quizzed-abortion-reversal-treatment.html

Australia – Meet Jo Bolger, the abortion doula who helps people through pregnancy terminations

ABC Sunshine Coast / By Edwina Storie
May 31, 2021

Jo Bolger is Australia's first abortion doula — a grandma, a mother of three, and one of those people who brims with warmth.

An abortion doula provides non-medical support, whether it be emotional, physical or informational, through a termination of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-01/meet-australia-s-first-abortion-doula/100153212

In Kenya, abortion focus obscures legislation towards safe reproductive healthcare services

Tagged “the abortion bill”, the Reproductive Healthcare bill of 2019 is, in fact a comprehensive document

Written by Laila Le Guen
Posted 30 March 2021

Reproductive rights in Kenya is an intimate and emotive topic where hard lines have been drawn on both sides. Pro- and anti-abortion campaigners keep cycling through episodes of heightened attention when high-profile cases arise and passions continue to run high. Meanwhile, the country registers numbers of unsafe abortions that are among the highest in Africa. Maternal mortality is high at about 6,000 deaths per year, 17 per cent of them from complications of unsafe abortion.

Limited legal recourse to access termination of pregnancy is a potential compromise that remains contested, leaving the two camps with a status quo that seems hard to shake off. What's at stake on both ends of this fiercely debated issue?

Continued: https://globalvoices.org/2021/03/30/in-kenya-abortion-campaigners-obscure-legislation-towards-safe-reproductive-healthcare-services/