Abstract
Introductionthere are controversies surrounding the practice of abortion especially in developing countries of Africa. Cameroon is not an exception to this and hence this study aims at assessing knowledge on the awareness of abortion laws, the factors that determine abortion and people’s perceptions on the legality of abortion in Cameroon.Methodsthe study is cross-sectional in its design. A total of 224 women were randomly sampled. Data for the study were collected through the use of questionnaires from the sampled women of child bearing age. These were used to assess knowledge on the awareness of abortion laws and the determinants of abortion. The data were analysed using STATA 15.Resultsthe prevalence of induced abortion was 21%. The major determinants of abortion among these women were; desire to stay in school (28%), fear of parents (24%) and shame of being pregnant out of wedlock (26%). Furthermore, many women are not aware of the situations where abortion is allowed and hence some still undertake illegal abortions even when they find themselves in situations deserving a legal abortion.Conclusioninduced abortion is still common in Buea, Cameroon despite the fact that it is illegal. Cameroon’s legal and health system needs to work in harmony in order to lessen the legal processes of having a legal abortion.
Highlights
There are controversies surrounding the practice of abortion especially in developing countries of Africa
Some of the abortions were done in medicine stores and at home (23%) on grounds that they were cheaper. This ties with the findings of Bain and Kongnyuy (2018) [11] which reported that many abortions, including those provided for by the law, were done without following the established legal procedures
The law accepts abortion under certain circumstances like rape, incest or when the mother’s life is threatened due to the pregnancy. Women faced with such situations still have abortions without following the prescribed legal procedures due to their ignorance of the law and/or lengthy due processes of obtaining a legal abortion
Summary
There are controversies surrounding the practice of abortion especially in developing countries of Africa. The World Health Organization defines an unsafe abortion as a procedure for terminating an unwanted pregnancy either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking the minimal medical standards or both [1]. Abortion is an age old practice carried out by human beings. It is practiced in all parts of the world though still widely illegal. Unsafe abortion is one of the neglected problems of health care in developing countries [2]. About 19-20 million of these abortions are done by individuals without the requisite skills or in environments below minimum medical standards or both (ibid). In Africa, 4.2 million abortions are estimated to take place per year, with an unsafe abortion rate of 22 per 1000 women, or one unsafe abortion per seven live births [6, 7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
