ABSTRACT
It is estimated that abortion accounts for at least 13 per cent of all maternal mortality globally (Berer 2000: 1). Worldwide, an average of 35 out of every 1,000 women of childbearing age have an abortion each year and an estimated 20 million women have abortions each year in countries where abortion is restricted or prohibited by law. Despite such dramatic statistics, and acknowledgement of the human and public health costs of illegal abortion, access to legal safe abortion services for most women remains an elusive goal.
