Thomson Reuters Foundation: Strict laws drive West African women to dangerous, illegal abortions
“From crowded cities to far-flung villages, women with unwanted pregnancies across West Africa are resorting to clandestine and unsafe abortions — driven by shame, stigma, and restrictive laws. … Abortion in West Africa, a region with some of the world’s highest fertility, unsafe abortion and maternal mortality rates, is largely illegal — some countries permit it only to save the woman’s life while others allow it in cases of rape or incest…” (Guilbert, 4/18).