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Abstract
In Ghana unsafe abortion remains a major public health problem despite apparent liberalization of the law on abortion over two decades. The contention is that the current law on abortion makes enforceability difficult and leaves room for untrained personnel to engage in dangerous abortion procedures and that there is need for law reform. To bring into focus how the current law affects the availability of safe abortion service in Ghana and to bring out suggestions that may be useful in future amendment of the law. Using the information gathered from literature review the current law on abortion in Ghana and relevant sections of the criminal code were critically analyzed from medico-legal perspective. Since 1985 the Ghanaian law on abortion has changed from its preoccupation with prohibition and punishment towards liberalization of abortion but there has been delay in policy formulation and implementation to translate the law into services. Hence safe abortion services on medico-social grounds as permitted by the law are not readily available in national health institutions. Some aspects of the law still appear implicit and may hamper implementation of safe abortion service in the country. For clarity there is need for more amendments in the law in order to regulate abortion and to enhance the right of the woman to make a choice on her own. There is also the need to expedite action on development policy and standard guidelines for practitioners.
Highlights
Unsafe abortion is a major public health problem in developing countries where abortion is restricted by laws which seek to prevent and punish
This overview is aimed at bringing into focus how the current law affects the availability of safe abortion service in Ghana and to make suggestions that may be useful in future amendment of the law
Extensive literature review was done by hand search of relevant books and journals and by electronic search from web sites on the internet using words like ‘Abortion, policy and the law’, ‘Trend of abortion laws’, ‘unsafe abortion in Ghana’, ‘maternal mortality and abortion in Ghana’
Summary
Until the second half of the 20th century abortion was illegal in most countries and was associated with high illegal and unsafe abortion rate and correspondently high maternal morbidity and mortality.[6] Recent years have seen the liberalization of abortion laws in almost all countries of the European Union, the United States and Canada. This together with better and wide spread promotion and use of contraceptives led to rapid decline in the rate of unsafe abortion and its associated mortality in the developed world.[2,7] It has been observed that in many developing countries safe abortion services are not available to the full extent permitted by law. It causes a significant morbidity among women in reproductive age. 8,9
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