Report: Abortion Incidence and Severity of Complications in Liberia

Abstract

Liberia has long recorded among the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, with recent survey data placing the rate at 742 deaths per 100,000 live births, and unsafe abortion identified as a contributor to roughly one in ten of these deaths. While universal access to safe abortion procedures and post-abortion care could virtually eliminate abortion-related deaths, Liberia's penal code permits abortion only under narrow conditions, including to save a woman's life, in cases of rape, incest, or fetal impairment, and requires certification by two doctors before a procedure can be performed. This report draws on a national abortion incidence study to estimate the prevalence of induced abortion and the severity of related complications across Liberia, building on earlier estimates that have varied widely, from 6 percent in a 2007 survey to 32 percent in a 2015 population-based study. It situates its findings within a policy landscape that includes 2019 National Comprehensive Abortion Care Guidelines and ongoing revisions to the Public Health Law aimed at expanding legal access to safe abortion. The report concludes that closing remaining gaps in contraceptive access and sexuality education, alongside continued legal reform, is essential to reducing Liberia's unsafe abortion burden.