MI, 1999; Nabila et al., 2000). What makes a pregnancy  mistimed  is unclear. Abortion, 

however, appears to be a fairly common strategy for controlling births in Ghana. 

Although exact figures on the incidence of abortion are difficult to obtain (GSS and MI, 

1999; Agyei and Hill, 1997), a recent study estimated the rate to be as high as 19 abortions per 

100 pregnancies (Ahiadeke, 2001). The Ghanaian government relaxed its abortion law in 1985, 

allowing registered physicians to perform abortions if  pregnancy results from rape or incest, if 

the physical or mental health of the mother is at risk or in cases of fetal disease or abnormality  

(Rahman et al., 1998). In practice, however, it is an open question whether medically performed 

abortions are available to the general public including adolescent girls. 

Some studies based primarily on focus group survey methods have found that adolescent 

girls experience more complications from abortion. The reasons are complex, and include the 

tendency to delay getting an abortion and having less access to surgical abortions because of 

excessive fees and other medical barriers. As a result, adolescent girls seem to often resort to 

unlicensed providers and unsafe methods to obtain an abortion (Ampofo, 1989; Garshong et al., 

1999). In addition, because of assumptions about why and with whom girls become sexually 

involved, ( sugar daddies  or casual partners), they are not likely to be supported by their 

partners when they become pregnant and do not have the financial resources to obtain safe 

abortions. Another likely reason why girls get abortions is lack of awareness or information 

about their bodies. A study by Lassey (1995), however, contradicts the idea that adolescent girls 

delay getting abortions. His study found that of the 212 admissions for complications of induced 

abortion (40 percent among girls age 15 to 20), most abortions had been conducted in the first 

seven to ten weeks of pregnancy. Health complications were not analyzed according to age, 

although significant complications occurred at registered and unregistered health facility sites 

and among those using self induced methods. Pregnancies among adolescent girls also seem to 

have negative consequences on their well being and their future.  

One of the factors that seems to underlie the pattern of early sexual initiation is an 

educational gender bias in Ghana, whereby parents generally prefer to educate their sons and not 

their daughters (Lloyd and Gage Brandon, 1994). Girls without financial resources who want to 

remain in school are thought to trade sexual favors with boys and men who supply them with the 

material and financial resources they need to stay in school. Girls who practice unprotected sex 

with multiple partners are at greater risk for acquiring HIV infection, and may have little say in 

the use of protection during these sexual encounters (Akuffo, 1987; Anarfi, 1997). In addition, 

early pregnancy seems to be a reason for girls leaving school, thus decreasing their chances of 

getting an education and all of the resulting opportunities that education confers (Akuffo, 1987; 

Adomako Ampfo, 1991; Anarfi and Awusabo Asare, 1993).  

Although demographic and health studies of adolescent health in Ghana contain useful 

information about the dynamics of adolescent sexual behavior, contraceptive practices, 

pregnancy, and abortion, they say relatively little about girls' perspectives and experiences on 

these matters. For example, there is little understanding about how teenage girls try to prevent 

pregnancy other than by using modern methods or how a pregnancy (accidental or otherwise) 

affects their aspirations and their social situation.  It is not known how the decision to terminate a 

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