About 60,000 pregnancies are terminated in Rwanda every year, the majority of which are unsafe, with 40 per cent leading to complications that require treatment, according to a study that was conducted by the Ministry of Health, the National University of Rwanda’s School of Public Health and the U.S based Guttmacher Institute.

The majority of the abortion cases are unwanted pregnancies and one-third of women who suffer complications do not receive necessary treatment, according to the recent study. According to a medical doctor who preferred anonymity, most of those who opt for abortions are young unmarried girls, most of them university students still pursuing their studies.

Some of them can’t abstain or even worse, opt for unsafe and unprotected sex which not only puts them at a risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases but also unwanted pregnancies likely to lead to health complications, since most times they opt for unsafe abortions.

Abortions usually lead to a number of dire consequences and complications such as inability to stop bleeding, infections and even death sometimes, especially if done wrongly. Agatha Mutamba, a Senior Midwife at the Rwanda Military Hospital notes that abortions may not affect you only physically but also emotionally or mentally. She states that people, who carry out abortions deliberately without a doctor’s recommendation due to likely complications, usually end up with feelings of guilt and anger.

"Many women take a very long time to get over the guilt of terminated pregnancies for whatever reasons they had. Some end up getting depressed besides other likely complications associated with abortions,” she said.

Women who have had an abortion face a higher risk of suffering from cervical and ovarian cancer compared to women with no history of abortion, according to the After Abortion Specialists. Abortions may also lead to cervical and uterine damage which may also increase the risk of labour complications, abnormal development of the placenta, premature delivery in future pregnancies hence increasing risk of producing children with disabilities. According to online sources, some of the things that you may be faced with if you should decide to get pregnant after an abortion include premature births, an increased chance of having a miscarriage, low infant birth weights, and even infant death. 

There are so many risks associated to abortions but if it ever crosses your mind, seek help from a professional gynecologist.