Abortion is a medical or surgical procedure that deliberately ends a pregnancy before an embryo or fetus is born. It is a basic healthcare need for millions of women, girls, and others who can become pregnant. Opponents of abortion typically object to the practice for religious or ethical reasons, contending that the procedure constitutes the cruel termination of what they consider to be a viable human life.
Those who support a woman’s right to choose an abortion argue that access to safe, legal abortions is a human right. The most common types of abortion performed are surgical and take place within the first trimester of pregnancy. The most common procedure performed is suction abortion, also referred to as vacuum aspiration, which involves removing tissue from the uterus through a thin tube.
The procedure is less invasive than later surgeries that require labor to be induced. Health care providers generally consider first-trimester surgical abortions performed by trained medical professionals to be among the safest and simplest forms of surgery. Medical abortions are slightly less effective than surgical abortions but carry a smaller risk of infection.
Health care professionals caution that medical abortions should not be confused with emergency contraception, a type of birth control pill used after unprotected sexual intercourse that serves to prevent, not terminate, pregnancy. Access to abortion is therefore fundamentally linked to protecting and upholding the human rights of women, girls, and others who can become pregnant, and thus to achieving social and gender justice.
Amnesty International believes that everyone should be free to exercise their bodily autonomy and make their own decisions about their reproductive lives including when and if they have children. It is essential that laws relating to abortion respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of pregnant persons and not force them to seek out unsafe abortions.
Preventing women and girls from accessing an abortion does not mean they stop needing one. That’s why attempts to ban or restrict abortions do nothing to reduce the number of abortions, it only forces people to seek out unsafe abortions.
Unsafe abortions are defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as “a procedure for terminating an unintended pregnancy carried out either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment that does not conform to minimal medical standards or both.” It is safe when carried out using a method recommended by WHO, appropriate to the pregnancy duration, and by someone with the necessary skills.
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Marie Stopes Ghana
Marie Stopes Ghana has built a strong reputation for consistently delivering quality, voluntary family planning services across the country. We provide services through our centres and range of delivery methods. We also offer services to those who can neither afford nor access services by working to support the Government of Ghana to reduce unsafe abortion and access to contraception.
Location: 26 Akwei Street, Tesano, Accra, Ghana
Telephone: 0800 20 85 85
Medifem Hospital
The Medifem Multi-Specialist Hospital & Fertility Centre is a Ghanaian-owned, first-class private healthcare institution dedicated to the provision of a range of specialized medical services.
Medifem, buoyed by its vision to become a leader in excellent healthcare delivery and fertility management, providing positive patient experience and innovative medical practice, has since 2012, been operating an ultra-modern centre on the Margaret Anderson Avenue in Westlands, Accra.
Location: Margaret Anderson Avenue, Westlands, Accra, Ghana.
Email: info@medifemhospital.com
Telephone: +233 302 433963 / 0554 110224 / 0272579491
Airport Women’s Hospital
Airport Women’s Hospital and Fertility Centre is a specialist hospital that offers excellent care to women. We have ultra-modern In Vitro facilities and operating room, a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), and a Pediatric Centre.
Our team of specialist Doctors and medical staff offer quality care in the areas of Obstetrics and Gynecology, infertility/IVF treatments, Pediatric/Neonatal Care, Wellness Clinic, Cosmetic Surgery, Laparoscopic surgery, Laboratory Services, Fibroid Management, Adolescent Gynecology, General Surgery among others.
Location: 16 Kofi Anan Road, Airport Residential Area (near Ghana Home Loans) POSTAL CODE: GA-153-1844, Accra
Telephone: +233 302 736107, +233 267 010065
WEBSITE: http://airportwomenshospital.com.gh/
St. Martin’s Hospital
The St. Martin’s Memorial Hospital-Dansoman is one of the leading hospitals in the Ablekuma District, the hospital which serves a community purpose is notable for providing quality and affordable healthcare in a siren and well-motivated atmosphere.
The hospital is committed to serving the general public to ensure the provision of advanced clinical health services. The hospital is also ambitious, with the stated aim of making the hospital into one of the safest in the country.
Telephone: +233245161229