FEATURED CAMPAIGN
Support Safe & Legal Abortion
Uganda loses between 16 and 18 women—every day—from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes, many of them due to complications from unsafe abortion. This is unacceptable. This number is not simply a statistic on a piece of paper—these women are someone’s daughter, mother, or sister. They are part of our communities. They are our friends, our girlfriends, and our wives.
For many years, organizations and activists across the country have been hard at work to bring about change and improve this dire reality. This work has ranged from a focus on education to foster a change in attitudes, behavior and beliefs on safe and legal abortion care, to pursuing legal and policy reforms.A Short Story
The Problem
In Uganda, laws regarding abortion are extremely restrictive, leading many women to seek access to unsafe abortions that increase their risk of injury and death. Research – and the experiences of everyday women and families here in Uganda – indicates that making abortion illegal does not stop women and girls from having abortions. Instead, everyday, women needlessly die from complications due to unsafe abortions, many of them leaving the children they already have motherless. We can save the lives of many women by reforming the abortion laws in Uganda.
Restrictive abortion laws like these are not associated with lower rates of abortion; instead, fear of imprisonment and societal stigma surrounding abortion drive the practice underground, leading to less safe abortions. Women and girls in Uganda die every day from unsafe abortions because they are trying to stop an unwanted pregnancy. Many of those who die are already mothers. Tragically, they leave their children motherless when they die. Other women suffer medical complications that make it difficult for them to have children in the future. Husbands lose their wives, parents lose their grown daughters to unsafe abortion. Together, we can change this tragic situation.
Over 93,000 women (or 12 out of every 1000 women) were hospitalized for complications from unsafe abortion in Uganda in 2013, and more than 10% of the country’s maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortions. To save women’s lives from unsafe abortion, It’s very important to have public conversations about safe abortion. Many people don’t realize that abortion is one of the safest medical procedures when it is done properly by healthcare staff, or when a woman properly uses medication abortion pills to end her pregnancy. Safe and legal abortion can ensure women can continue on with their lives and still be able to have children in the future if they choose. Encouraging safe and legal abortion saves lives here in Uganda and preserves the future for so many girls, women and their families.
Who Needs Safe Abortion Care?
Unintended pregnancies accounted for half of the 2.3 million pregnancies that occurred in Uganda in 2013. Some people may be surprised to find out that a sizable percentage of women who seek abortions are already mothers. Many who need safe abortion care are wives or sisters; all are daughters and friends. Women of all religious and cultural backgrounds may need safe abortion care, for many
different reasons, regardless of their circumstances in life. Moreover, abortion is also very common among mature women and women in stable relationships. You may currently know someone who has had an abortion and just not realize it. We all have a role to play in supporting women’s ability to access safe and legal abortion care.
In 2016, a quarter of Ugandan women age 15–19 had already begun childbearing, and 46% of births to women under the age of 20 were reported as mistimed or unwanted.
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questions?
More about the campaignCALL TO ACTION
What you can do to stop unsafe abortion?
Radio Drama
‘Chances’ is a radio drama focusing on everyday life in a Ugandan trading center name “Sonton”. This drama features the everyday experiences, struggles, and stories of the residents.
