Ghana
ABORTION POLICY
Grounds on which abortion is permitted:
To save the life of the woman
To preserve physical health
To preserve mental health
Rape or incest
Foetal impairment
Economic or social reasons
Available on request
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Additional requirements:
An abortion must be performed by a registered physician with the consent of the pregnant woman. The
consent of next of kin or a guardian is required if the woman is not capable of giving consent. The abortion
must be performed in a government hospital or a private hospital or clinic registered under the Private
Hospitals or Maternity Homes Act of 1958 (No. 9) or in a place approved for the purpose.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT
Government view on fertility level:
Too high
Government intervention concerning fertility level:
To lower
Government policy on contraceptive use:
Direct support provided
Percentage of currently married women using
modern contraception (aged 15-49, 1993):
10
Total fertility rate (1995-2000):
5.2
Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000):
113
Government has expressed particular concern about:
Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion
Complications of childbearing and childbirth
Yes
Yes
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births, 1990):
National
Western Africa
740
1 020
Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000):
61.8
Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of the
United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
28
Ghana
BACKGROUND
Until 1985, abortion in Ghana was governed by the Criminal Code of 1960 (Act 29, sections 58-59 and
67). Under the Code anyone causing or attempting to cause an abortion, regardless of whether the woman was
pregnant, could be fined and/or imprisoned for up to 10 years. A woman inducing her own abortion or
undergoing an illegal abortion was subject to the same punishment. An abortion was legal, however, if carried
out in good faith without negligence for the purpose of providing medical or surgical treatment for the
pregnant woman.
The law of 1960 was not sufficiently clear on several issues. It did not, for example, clarify who was
qualified to perform an abortion, whether the consent of the woman (or guardian) was required, what the
gestation limits were or where a legal abortion could be performed. Moreover, it did not define what
constituted medical or surgical treatment. Two studies conducted among physicians and lawyers in the early
1970s confirmed that the law was so vague that different persons had varying interpretations of it. The studies
also found that the overwhelming majority of physicians supported the drafting of a clearer and more liberal
abortion law in Ghana.
Ghana enacted a new abortion law in 1985 (Law No. 102 of 22 February). In general, under this law any
person administering any poison or other noxious substance to a woman or using any instruments or other
means with the intent to cause an abortion is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding five years, regardless of whether the woman is pregnant or has given her consent. Any person
inducing a woman to cause or consent to an abortion, assisting a woman to cause an abortion or attempting to
cause an abortion may also be imprisoned for a term not exceeding five years. A person who supplies or
procures any poison, drug or instrument or any other thing knowing that it will be used to perform an abortion
is also subject to the same punishment.
Nonetheless, the new law enlarges the circumstances under which the performance of an abortion is
permitted. Abortion is currently legal if the continuation of the pregnancy involves risk to the life or injury to
the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. Abortion is also legal if there is substantial risk that the
child, if born, might suffer from or later develop a serious physical abnormality or disease. Finally, abortion is
legal if the pregnancy results from rape, incest or the defilement of a mentally handicapped woman.
A legal abortion must be performed by a registered medical practitioner with the consent of the pregnant
woman. If the woman lacks the capacity to give her own consent, the consent of her next of kin or guardian is
required. The abortion must be performed in a government hospital or a private hospital or clinic registered
under the Private Hospitals and Maternity Homes Act of 1958 (No. 9) or in a place approved for that purpose
by the law.
Although there are no official statistics on abortion in Ghana, recent studies suggest that it is a common
practice. For example, a 1987 study conducted at Accra and Tamale suggested that abortion was commonly
used as a method of birth control. In 1984, a survey carried out at Accra among obstetric patients also found
that 20 per cent of the women who had at least one previous hospital delivery had had at least one induced
abortion. Despite the relaxation of abortion restrictions in Ghana, limitations on resources restrict the number
Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of the
United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
29
Ghana
of legal abortions performed. Therefore, women sometimes attempt illegal abortions and then go to a hospital
for treatment of abortion complications. The complications associated with illegal abortion have had serious
public health implications in Ghana because they raise maternal mortality and morbidity and divert limited
health resources.
Following the conclusions of an in-depth 1991 analysis of the Ghana National Family Planning
Programme, the population policy of 1969 was revised in 1994. In addition, in 1992, the National Population
Council was created to monitor and coordinate the activities of governmental and non-governmental bodies
involved in population and family planning. The policy revision also marks a response to the results of the
Ghana Demographic and Health Survey of 1988, which indicated a total fertility rate of 6.4 children per
woman. The survey also found that 13 per cent of currently married women were using some method of family
planning and 5 per cent were using modern methods.
Source: Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of the
United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
30