Another participant said that getting pregnant while in school was particularly 

problematic and that this was a good reason to have an abortion. 

But then if a schoolgirl is pregnant, it is better to have the abortion or else the child will 

suffer, since the schoolgirl cannot care for herself and the child. In fact, her friends will 

laugh at her in school and she cannot go to school. 

Overall, the reasons that the girls found acceptable for having an abortion were: 1) there 

was no father for the child; 2) there was no one to help the girl look after the child; 3) there were 

no financial resources to care for and feed the child; and 4) the girl was still in school. These 

reasons outweighed the moral arguments against abortion in the girls' decisions to keep or abort 

since they were rarely mentioned in that context. None of the girls mentioned rape or not liking 

the boyfriend enough as legitimate reasons to have an abortion. 

6.1.3  Keeping Abortion a Secret 

Society's attitudes regarding abortion and miscarriage are embedded in the words used to 

describe the two events. Miscarriage is commonly said to mean  spoilt  pregnancy, while 

abortion connoted  spilling of blood  or  killing your child,  according to the participants. When 

the two words were contrasted, most participants said something like the following: 

Abortion is usually associated with a murder or sinful act, while a miscarriage is seen as 

a natural process that God did not want the pregnancy to be. [Eve] 

The participants understood that it was best to keep an abortion a secret and those who 

had had abortions said they did so. 

As for abortion, it is hidden. . . the way spilling of blood is not good and you've been able 

to spill blood; you have to hide it. If you hide it and only God knows about it, then you 

keep praying maybe God will for give you.  But if you don't hide it and talk about it 

openly, even when you're walking, people will be insulting you. [Ruth] 

6.2 

Experiences of Surgical Abortion 

The surgical abortions are divided into three basic groups for discussion: hospital 

abortions, abortions initiated by hospital staff (Korle Bu Hospital staff quarters), and private 

clinic abortions. The following accounts are not based on direct observation by a third party, but 

on the girl's account of the experience, and must be understood in this light. 

The elements that could be gleaned from many participants' accounts of clinic abortions 

included the following:  

Who accompanied the girl 

Whether the girl filled out a card  

Whether the girl was put to sleep  

The general type of instrument used   

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