Estimates of Induced Abortion among Women in Osun State Nigeria: Evidence from a Modified Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology

Tosin Oni, Obafemi Awolowo University
Olufunmilayo Banjo
Akinrinola Bankole, Guttmacher Institute
Akanni I. Akinyemi, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

Restricted access to safe abortion in Nigeria pushes women to engage in unsafe procedures, resulting in many deaths. Yet, the existing estimates of women’s exposure to unsafe procedures are mainly from direct methods, which are prone to inaccuracy due to deliberate distortions caused by stigma and fear. We used the Abortion Incidence Complication Methodology (AICM) to provide indirect estimates of induced abortion in Osun state, Nigeria. We implemented surveys to obtain data on post-abortion care (PAC) caseloads, abortion safety and the likelihood of women getting treated for abortion complications. We used supplementary data from the latest Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. The results showed that 46,865 abortions occurred in Osun in 2021, translating to 39 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-49. Not more than 27% of abortions that had complications in the state were treated in health facilities. For every 1 woman who received PAC, 4 did not receive. Poor and rural women had much higher rates of abortion complications but significantly lower odds of receiving PAC in health facilities. The study concludes that restrictive abortion laws have widened health inequalities in Nigeria. We recommended strengthening PAC services in rural areas and other socio-economic characteristics that need targeting.

Keywords: Family Planning and Contraception, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Families, Unions and Households, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination

See extended abstract.