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Dakar: Difference between revisions
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===Laws & Social Stigmas=== | ===Laws & Social Stigmas=== | ||
Abortion law in Senegal is "restrictive and unclear."<ref>[https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/abortion-senegal Abortion in Senegal]</ref> According to the Senegalese Criminal Code, abortion is completely illegal. However, the Code of Medical Ethics allows an abortion to be performed if at least three doctors verify that the abortion is medically necessary to save the life of a woman. The legal proceedings for an abortion are supposedly very lengthy. | Abortion law in Senegal is "restrictive and unclear."<ref>[https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/abortion-senegal Abortion in Senegal]</ref> According to the Senegalese Criminal Code, abortion is completely illegal. However, the Code of Medical Ethics allows an abortion to be performed if at least three doctors verify that the abortion is medically necessary to save the life of a woman. The legal proceedings for an abortion are supposedly very lengthy. In 2005, Senegal ratified the Maputo Protocol, which requires states to guarantee abortion access in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, endangerment to physical or mental health or risk to the mother's life.<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/us-senegal-women-abortion-idUSKCN0JF31220141201 In Senegal, women kill own babies due to strict abortion laws]</ref> However, the reality for nearly all Senegalese women remains that they must obtain an underground abortion or to leave the country for an abortion. | ||
According to a 2015 report, 31% of all pregnancies in Senegal were unintended. Furthermore, 24% of unintended pregnancies result in induced abortions with 60% resulting in unplanned births and 16% in miscarriages. In 2012, there were an estimated 51,500 induced abortions in Senegal. The highest abortion rates were found in Dakar. Many of these underground abortions are unsafe, and just over one-third of the abortion providers were trained health professionals (17% by doctors and 20% by nurses or midwives). As a result, 55% of Senegalese women who obtained abortions experienced complications, although the complication rate between non-poor urban women (35%) and poor rural women (73%) varied significantly. The overwhelming majority of complications occurred when women tried to induce abortions themselves or receive abortions from untrained providers.<ref>[https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/abortion-senegal Abortion in Senegal]</ref> | |||
Furthermore, the report states, " Even where postabortion care services are available and affordable, fear of criminal charges and stigma may prevent many women from seeking the care they need. Educating providers about the legality of postabortion care—and the importance of such care to women’s health—may reduce these barriers to women’s obtaining prompt medical attention for abortion complications."<ref>[https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/abortion-senegal Abortion in Senegal]</ref> | |||
===What to Get & Where to Get It=== | ===What to Get & Where to Get It=== | ||