Unsafe abortion

Each year, an estimated 20 million women risk the deadly consequences of unsafe abortion.  Over 68,000 of those
women will die. 

Performed safely, abortion rarely results in complications. When abortion is performed unsafely, due to inappropriate methods, untrained providers or a lack of sterile technique, the risk of injury, complications and death is high.

Fear, stigma, lack of awareness, and restrictive laws mean that women in many countries around the world don’t have access to safe abortion services. As a result, they are vulnerable to exploitation at the hands of backstreet abortionists.

The human toll is high:

• over 200 women die each day from an unsafe abortion; that’s 1 every 7 minutes
• between 2 and 7 million women suffer long-term damage or disease each year
• the most frequent complications are incomplete abortion, infection, haemorrhage and injury to the uterus or bowel
• over 97% of unsafe abortions take place in the world’s poorest countries

In the face of powerful opposition, Marie Stopes International has been at the forefront of efforts to bring the issue of safe abortion up the international agenda. Through our advocacy initiatives and campaigns we stress the importance of safe, legal abortion and the appalling human toll.

We are committed to increasing access to safe abortion services where legal, and to providing post-abortion care for the treatment of septic and incomplete abortion in countries where women have been forced to access unsafe services. 

We are also tackling the root of the problem by working to improve access to family planning to prevent unplanned pregnancies.