The Reality of Unsafe Abortion

Each year, 111 million unintended pregnancies occur in low-and middle-income countries, and they account for 49% of all pregnancies in those regions.

As a Pathfinder supporter, you know that behind these numbers are the stories of real women and girls—and the costs to them, their families, communities and nations.

A nurse from Mozambique, Tania knows what happens when women and girls do not have the power to decide when or whether to have children.

“One day I was in the maternity ward, a girl showed up,” Tania recalls. “She wasn’t even able to walk. Her parents didn’t know what was going on. When they examined her, she told them that she was bleeding. She was anemic, pale…so we asked the family to buy a pregnancy test.

“We did the test and saw that it was positive for pregnancy. We began asking questions about what had happened, when the bleeding had started. She said that it had been going on for a month. Everything had.

“She was afraid to tell her family. Her family found out because she couldn’t get up, not even to go to the bathroom. So, they brought her to the hospital. They were surprised she had an abortion. We don’t have a report about what happened to her. The driver only told us when he dropped her off. But what happened after that, we don’t have that information.”

Every year, 23,000 women around the world die from unsafe abortions. Pathfinder is working to change that.

“Unsafe abortion is a reality,” Tania says.

Stories like the one Tania tells are far too common. In countries where abortion is taboo or illegal, abortions are carried out in back rooms, sometimes at the hands of a traditional healer or an untrained provider—and can be painful, dangerous and deadly.

The young girl in Tania’s story deserved a right to these services. Her life depended on it.

“I really want to see more information shared with communities—about contraceptives and safe abortion,” says Tania.

We wholeheartedly agree.

Your support is a vital part of advancing Pathfinder’s mission. To learn how you can use your estate plans to help us give more women the services they need to protect their health and choose their own path forward, please contact Fran Cifrino at 617-924-7200 or fcifrino@pathfinder.org today.