Abortion is legal in Ghana - Health Director declares

The Western Regional Director of the Ghana Health Services, Dr. Emmanuel Tinkorang, has said that abortion is legal when performed on an adult by a qualified medical practitioner with the right medical tools and within the confines of a registered health facility in the country.

He said female adults, who consented to abortion, is permitted by law to do so upon assessment by a qualified medical doctor that, the pregnancy would affect her health physically, psychologically and mentally.

He said government had instituted a comprehensive abortion care policy to enable persons who want to abort unwanted pregnancies to have access to quality services to ensure a healthy nation.

“Everybody has a choice, therefore if a pregnant woman believes that the pregnancy could affect her health, the law allows her to abort the foetus but must be based on appropriate reasons”, he stressed.

Dr. Tinkorang was speaking at a press briefing to launch this year’s National Family Planning Week and World Contraception Day, in Takoradi, on Tuesday.

This year’s celebration, which would be celebrated on September 25, is on the theme, “It’s Your Life, It’s Your Future; Plan It Well”.

The Western Regional Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr. Kofi Asemanyi-Mensah, said this year’s celebration aimed at increasing public awareness and acceptance of family planning as an essential component of national health and socio-economic development.

He said series of activities had been lined up at the national and regional levels, which would focus attention on the urgency and importance of family planning in the context of overall national development.

He noted that in Ghana, many unintended pregnancies end up as unsafe abortions, which according to studies, account for between 20 to 30 per cent of all maternal deaths.

“Therefore the availability of reliable contraception, regardless of age or ability to pay, is an essential step in preventing such deaths”, he noted.

The Deputy Public Health Director indicated that the impact of population growth on the development of a nation is critical and worth noting, as keeping the growth of the population in tune with economic growth enables development to take place.

He said the sexual and reproductive health of every nation’s population is vital; therefore it is essential to ensure access to quality reproductive health information and services.

“To achieve this, we need to invest in family planning programmes that enable individuals and couples the ability to decide when to have children and the number of children at any point in time”, he said.