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Unsafe abortions kill 70,000 women a year

Written by Sevencam
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 00:00

Around 70,000 women die every year and five million others develop complications as a result of unsafe abortions, according to a new report released yesterday.

Despite a fall in the general number of abortions worldwide, the research by the US-based Guttmacher Institute found that restricting the availability of legal procedures does not reduce the number of women who try to end unwanted pregnancies.

Over 90 per cent of women in South America and Africa face restrictive abortion laws and almost all unsafe procedures happen in less developed countries. Besides legal restrictions, the report points to availability and cost as other major obstacles for safe abortions.

This news story was originally featured on the Panos London website.