An Appraisal of Abortion Laws in Southern Africa from a Reproductive Health Rights Perspective

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Region by region, the estimates for unsafe abortions in Africa are as follows: 1,900,000 for East Africa; 600,000 for Middle Africa; 600,000 for North Africa; 1,600,000 for West Africa; and 200,000 for Southern Africa: World Health Organization, supra note 15.

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Braam and Hessini , supra note 50.

Ngwena , supra note 49.

Unofficial estimates put the number of illegal abortions much higher at 120,000 per year: South African Institute of Race Relations, South Africa Survey 1996/97 (Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations 1997): at 492.

Reproductive Rights Alliance, “National Statistics,” Barometer 1, no.1 (1997): At 4.

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