ABORTION FACTS This paper provides factual

information about abortion in

Legal Assistance Centre Namibia, Africa and the world in
Windhoek  Namibia  2020 general, to inform the current national
debate on abortion in Namibia.
Global perspective
How many abortions take place each year? According to the World Health Organisation, there were an estimated 56.3
million abortions per year globally between 2010 and 2014. This means that about 25% of all pregnancies (1 out of 4) ended
in abortion, legally or illegally.1 According to the Guttmacher Institute, about 121 million unplanned pregnancies occurred
each year between 2015 and 2019. About 61% of all unplanned pregnancies (somewhat less than 2 out of 3) end in abortion.
In total, about 73 million abortions took place each year during that time period.2

Where are abortion rates highest? Abortion rates are higher in countries where access to legal abortion is restrictive.
This sounds counter-intuitive. The reason for this odd statistic is that the number of unplanned pregnancies is higher in countries
that restrict abortion than in countries where laws allow easier access to abortion.3

Are abortions rates rising or falling? This question has to be considered in perspective. The number of planned pregnancies
is falling worldwide, but the percentage of unplanned pregnancies ending in abortion is rising. As a result, the global abortion
rate in 2015-19 was about the same as in the early 1990s. Abortion rates are rising most in countries that restrict access
to abortion. In such countries, about 36% of unplanned pregnancies ended in abortion during the period 1990-1994. This
increased to 50% in 2015-2019.4 This shows that laws restricting access to abortion do actually not prevent abortion, but
are more likely to affect the circumstances in which abortion takes place.5 The legality of abortion across the world has little
to no effect on how many abortions take place every year in different countries.6

How many women die or are harmed by unsafe abortions? Globally, unsafe abortions account for an estimated 8-11%
of maternal deaths annually, which translates to the deaths of some 23 000-31 000 women each year – although the percentage
of abortions that end in the woman’s death are generally declining over time.7 About 7 million women in developing countries
are admitted to hospitals every year as a result of unsafe abortion. During the period 2010-2014, 3 out of 4 abortions that
occurred in Africa were unsafe. The risk of dying from an unsafe abortion is higher in Africa than anywhere else in the world.8

What do the laws of different countries

say about abortion?
Access to abortion can be broadly categorised as:
z abortion completely prohibited;
z abortion allowed to preserve a woman’s life;
z abortion allowed to preserve a woman’s physical
and/or mental health;
z abortion allowed on broad social or economic
grounds;
z abortion allowed on request to a certain stage of the
pregnancy (which varies in different countries but is
most commonly 12 weeks).
There are currently 26 countries in the world where all
abortions are illegal and 39 countries where abortion is   Prohibited altogether 
illegal unless it saves the life of the mother. Abortion is   To save the woman’s life 
available on request in 67 countries.9   To preserve health
Source: “The World’s Abortion Laws”, Centre for Reproductive Rights, 2019,   Broad social or economic grounds 
<https://reproductiverights.org/worldabortionlaws>.   On request (gestational limits vary)

1 “Preventing unsafe abortion”, World Health Organisation, 26 June 2019, <www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/preventing-unsafe-abortion>. The World
Health Organisation is a specialised agency of the United Nations that works on international public health issues.
2 “Unintended Pregnancy and Abortion Worldwide”, Guttmacher Institute, July 2020, <www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-worldwide>. The Guttmacher
Institute is an international research organisation engaged in work on sexual and reproductive health.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid. This calculation excludes China and India because their very large populations skew the data. If they are included, then abortion rates appear to be about
the same in countries which allow abortion and countries which restrict it.
5 See, for example, J Bearak et al, “Unintended pregnancy and abortion by income, region, and the legal status of abortion: estimates from a comprehensive model
for 1990–2019”, 8(9) The Lancet Global Health 1152 (2020), <www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30315-6/fulltext>.
6 J Bearak et al, “Unintended pregnancy and abortion by income, region, and the legal status of abortion: estimates from a comprehensive model for 1990–2019”, 8(9)
The Lancet Global Health 1152 (2020), <www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30315-6/fulltext>; S Singh et al, “Abortion Worldwide
2017: Uneven Progress and Unequal Access”, March 2018, <www.guttmacher.org/report/abortion-worldwide-2017>.
7 S Singh et al, “Abortion Worldwide 2017: Uneven Progress and Unequal Access”, March 2018, <www.guttmacher.org/report/abortion-worldwide-2017>.
8 “Preventing unsafe abortion”, World Health Organisation, 26 June 2019, <www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/preventing-unsafe-abortion>.
9 “The World’s Abortion Laws”, Centre for Reproductive Rights, 2019, <https://reproductiverights.org/worldabortionlaws>.
Abortion in Namibia
Current law: The relevant Namibian law is the Abortion and Sterilization Act 2 of 1975 inherited from South Africa at
independence. This law allows abortion only in these circumstances:
z where continuing the pregnancy will endanger the woman’s life or constitute a serious threat to her physical or mental health
z there is a serious risk that the child will suffer from a physical or mental defect that will result in an irreparable and serious handicap
z the pregnancy resulted from rape, incest or unlawful carnal intercourse with a woman who has a severe mental incapacity.
Two medical practitioners must provide a certificate verifying the grounds for abortion. Where the basis for the abortion is
unlawful intercourse (rape or incest), a certificate from a magistrate is also necessary. Abortion in any other circumstances is a
criminal offence for both the woman who seeks it and the person who performs it. The punishment is a fine of up to N$5 000
or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.
The criminalisation of abortion has driven many Namibian women to unsafe abortions.10 The contribution of unsafe abortion
to maternal deaths is not known, but the little data that is available suggests that it may account for 12 to 16% of Namibia’s
annual maternal deaths.11

How many abortions (legal and illegal) take place in Namibia each year? We do not know the answer to this question.
It is difficult to count abortions in practice because people want to keep it secret if they have done something illegal. Women who
can afford it will most likely travel to neighbouring South Africa to access legal abortion services (abortion has been available on
request during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy in South Africa since 1996), while the practice of ‘baby dumping’ is a common
occurrence which may result from the inability to access abortion. Namibian Police statistics indicated that they received …

Reports of 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Source:

Nampol statistics
illegal abortion        requested by
in Namibia 23 19 13 26 19 18 29 LAC

Beware of misleading statistics

Former Namibian Minister of Health and Social Services Dr Bernard Haufiku stated at one stage that over 7 000 women
and girls had accessed health services with abortion-related complications in 2016.12 However, a closer examination of
the statistics showed that this number actually referred mostly to “spontaneous abortions” (miscarriages).13

Attitudes in Namibia: In June 2020, calls for legalising abortion in Namibia intensified, A petition to amend the law to
increase access to legal abortion in Namibia has attracted over 60 000 signatures by September 2020.14 The authors of the
petition proposed that the right to access legal abortion should be accompanied by education relating to sexual health and
reproductive rights to prevent unwanted pregnancies and baby dumping.15 Attempts to liberalise the law on abortion have been
met with strong opposition from religious groups and some women’s groups and politicians.16

Legal Assistance Centre stance on abortion

The Legal Assistance Centre supports law reform which would expand freedom of choice in respect of abortion in
support of women’s reproductive rights. Although some of our staff members oppose abortion on moral or religious
grounds, we believe that the decision is a matter of personal conscience which should not be mandated by the law in the
absence of any scientific or human rights-based consensus on the issue. Furthermore, purely religious views cannot be
imposed on the public by law in a secular state like Namibia. We advocate that increased scope to decide on whether or
not to have an abortion should be coupled with:
z improved access to family planning measures for girls and women of all ages;
z continued action to prevent gender-based violence and gender inequality which can lead to unwanted pregnancies; and
z the provision of information before a decision on abortion is made since many people do not know about options such
as foster care, adoption, or the mechanisms they can use to secure financial support from the father or the State.

10 S Mwatilifange and L Edwards-Jauch, “Reproductive justice in the face of conservatism: youth attitudes towards abortion on demand”, 6(2) Journal for Studies
in Humanities and Social Sciences 2017.
11 Unsafe abortion in Namibia: Country Factsheet”, Durban: Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2016,
<www.heard.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Namibia-abortion-fact-sheet-May-2016-revised-2020.pdf>. HEARD is an applied research organisation
affiliated with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
12 T Tjihenuna, “Unsafe abortions reach 7 000 mark”, The Namibian, 28 March 2017, <www.namibian.com.na/162911/archive-read/Unsafe-abortions-reach-7-000-mark>.
13 D Hubbard, “Abortion: Numbers, Rights And Practicalities”, The Namibian, 11 April 2017, <www.namibian.com.na/163450/archive-read/Abortion-Numbers-
Rights-And-Practicalities>.
14 “Legalize Abortion in Namibia”, <www.change.org/p/honorable-dr-kalumbi-shangula-minister-of-health-and-social-services-legalize-abortion-in-namibia>.
15 “NAMIBIA – A true story of unsafe abortion & a petition to make abortion safe and legal”, International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion, 2020,
<www.safeabortionwomensright.org/namibia-a-true-story-of-unsafe-abortion-a-petition-to-make-abortion-safe-and-legal>.
16 See, for example, “Unsafe abortion in Namibia: Country Factsheet”, Durban: Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of
KwaZulu-Natal, 2016, <www.heard.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Namibia-abortion-fact-sheet-May-2016-revised-2020.pdf>.