FACT: Women in Zambia report attempting to self-induce abortions by swallowing antimalarial drugs, herbal remedies, gasoline or detergents

thehumorlessfeminist:

This is what anti-choicers want.

Zambia’s abortion law permits pregnancy termination on health and socioeconomic grounds. However few women who need an abortion can meet requirements that it be performed by a physician, in a hospital and with the consent of three registered medical
practitioners, one of whom must be a specialist with expertise relating to the case. (In emergency situations, consent from only one physician is needed.) That there are fewer than two physicians for every 10,000 people in Zambia is just one of the hurdles women face when seeking a legal abortion. Others include the cost of the procedure and the strong social and religious sanctions against abortion. Women who cannot overcome the considerable logistical, financial or social obstacles to obtaining a legal procedure may resort to illegal abortion, risking their well-being and seven years’ imprisonment.

(Source: saturniinae)