Community studies around the world indicate a higher magnitude of unsafe abortion than do health statistics. 3,11,12 In Zambia, the extent of maternal mortality from unsafe abortion is not generally known from health statistics; one study in which women were interviewed revealed that 69% of the respondents knew one or more women who had died from an unsafe illegal abortion. 12 Focus-group discussions and community-based studies in India11 revealed self-reported abortions in 28% of women, which is higher than figures derived from national service-delivery data. Estimates show that women in South America, eastern Africa, and western Africa are more likely to have an.
