Pharmacists urged to help curb unsafe abortion in Ghana

Pharmacists in the country have been urged to help in curbing the high level of unsafe abortions in the country. They have also been encouraged to use their medium to educate and direct expectant mothers, who are keen in aborting their pregnancies due to reasons beyond their control, to the right authorities, in order to reduce the menace in Ghana.

The call was made at a day's workshop organised by the Ghana Women's Voices, a non governmental organisation (NGO), seeking to promote maternal health in collaboration with IPAS, Ghana, to educate 30 selected female pharmacists on abortion in Accra.

According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Women's Voices, Nana Yaa Appiah, pharmacy shops are the first place of call, as far as induced abortion is concerned, but noted that 30% of women who go to these shops are denied any form of services, while the rest are given medicines which later cause harm to them.

She mentioned that unsafe abortion was a critical public health concern in Ghana, emphasising that those women who are denied access to safe abortion, mostly end up getting into the wrong hands.

The CEO further revealed that two recent hospital-based studies showed that close to 30 percent of maternal deaths in Ghana were due to unsafe abortions, “most frequently, the direct result of hemorrhaging or infection that often accompanies an unsafe or improper procedure. Many of these cases occur outside the health care system.”

She opined that though unsafe abortion could be prevented in Ghana, many women die or sustain injuries from it everyday.

Nana Appiah lamented that in recent years, the problem of unsafe abortion has gained increasing attention in both the academic literature and the popular press and it is clear that large numbers of women have unsafe abortions despite the availability of safe services.

She further explained that induced abortion was illegal in Ghana but there are a number of exceptions within the law that make it more accessible. “It is allowed under conditions sure as rape, mental health reasons, minors, incest among others”.

Nana Appiah was of the view that for clarity there was the need for more amendments in the law in order to regulate abortion and to enhance the right of the woman to make a choice on her own. She also stressed the need to expedite action on development policy and standard guidelines for practitioners.

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy after conception. It allows women to put an end to their pregnancies, but involves killing the undeveloped embryo or fetus. For this reason, it is a very controversial subject.

Supporters of abortion rights argue that the embryo or fetus is not a person, or at least that the government has no right to ban abortion unless it can prove that an embryo or fetus is a person.

Opponents of abortion rights also argue that the embryo or fetus is a person, or at least that the government has a responsibility to ban abortion until it can prove that an embryo or fetus is not a person.