Nearly half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe

About half of the nearly 56 million abortions performed across the globe each year are unsafe, according to a report out Wednesday from the World Health Organization, the Department of Reproductive Health and Research, and the Guttmacher Institute.

When done correctly, by a trained professional and in a setting that’s up to medical standards, abortions rarely result in complications. But when abortions are performed by untrained people or at an inappropriate location, the World Health Organization deems them “unsafe” — and they can be very dangerous.

After analyzing all abortions that took place worldwide between 2010 and 2014 — the most recent year for which data is available — researchers discovered that an overwhelming number of those unsafe abortions take place in developing countries. Out of 25.1 million unsafe abortions, 24.3 million, or 97 percent, occur in developing countries.

Among the other key findings:

• The poorer a country is, the more unsafe abortions it has. Nearly 90 percent of abortions that take place in developed countries are deemed safe by the World Health Organization. But in developing countries, only half of abortions are safe.
• Each year, 17.1 million abortions are “less safe,” meaning that they are either performed by a trained professional or in an appropriate setting, but not both. Another 8 million abortions are “least safe,” or they were performed using potentially deadly methods — such as inserting objects into women’s bodies, or having them eat caustic substances, like lye.
• Abortions were likely to be safer in countries that had largely legalized abortion. In the 62 countries that either completely ban abortion or only allow it when the mother’s life or health is at risk, just a quarter of abortions are safe.
• Safe abortions are rarely found in Latin America and most of Africa — fewer than a quarter of all abortions in those areas are safe. Out of all the regions in the world, Central America had the fewest safe abortions: Just 18.4 percent of all abortions there are safe.
• North America had the highest rate of safe abortions: 99 percent of all abortions that take place there are safe.