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Journal of Adolescent Health
March 2018
Picture shows Ethiopia on the map of Africa

Playing it Safe: Legal and Clandestine Abortions among Adolescents in Ethiopia

Elizabeth A. Sully,Guttmacher Institute
Yohannes Dibaba,Ipas Ethiopia
Tamara Fetters,Ipas
Nakeisha Blades,Guttmacher Institute
Akinrinola Bankole,Guttmacher Institute
The time is now. Will you stand up for reproductive health and rights?
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First published online: March 14, 2018 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.12.015
Purpose

The 2005 expansion of the Ethiopian abortion law provided minors access to legal abortions, yet little is known about abortion among adolescents. This paper estimates the incidence of legal and clandestine abortions and the severity of abortion-related complications among adolescent and nonadolescent women in Ethiopia in 2014.


Methods

This paper uses data from three surveys: a Health Facility Survey (n = 822) to collect data on legal abortions and postabortion complications, a Health Professionals Survey (n = 82) to estimate the share of clandestine abortions that resulted in treated complications, and a Prospective Data Survey (n = 5,604) to collect data on abortion care clients. An age-specific variant of the Abortion Incidence Complications Method was used to estimate abortions by age-group.


Results

Adolescents have the lowest abortion rate among all women below age 35 (19.6 per 1,000 women). After adjusting for lower levels of sexual activity among adolescents however, we find that adolescents have the highest abortion rate among all age-groups. Adolescents also have the highest proportion (64%) of legal abortions compared with other age-groups. We find no differences in the severity of abortion-related complications between adolescent and nonadolescent women.


Conclusions

We find no evidence that adolescents are more likely than older women to have clandestine abortions. However, the higher abortion and pregnancy rates among sexually active adolescents suggest that they face barriers in access to and use of contraceptive services. Further work is needed to address the persistence of clandestine abortions among adolescents in a context where safe and legal abortion is available.

Article available at the Journal of Adolescent Health
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First Study on the Incidence of Abortion Among Ethiopian Adolescents Released

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Induced Abortion and Postabortion Care Among Adolescents in Ethiopia

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Legality of abortions in Ethiopia, 2014

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Unintended pregnancy among adolescents in Ethiopia, 2014

Topic

Global

  • Abortion
  • Teens

Geography

  • Africa: Ethiopia
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