Severity of complications is another important measure of effects on health. A standardised measure of the severity of complications was used in South Africa before and after legalisation of abortion on request in 1996. The proportion of women classified with severe complications (fever of 38°C or more, organ or system failure, generalised peritonitis, pulse 120 per min or more, shock, evidence of a foreign body, or mechanical injury) in South Africa fell substantially from 16·5% before legalisation to 9·7% after. Applying similar methods, a study in Kenya found that 28% of hospitalised women had severe complications. Gestational age at abortion.
