Debunking misinformation about abortion-related maternal mortality in Africa

An emerging body of literature misinterprets and misrepresents the scholarship on African maternal mortality to advance the political agenda of anti-abortion advocates. The African region accounts for 70% of global maternal deaths, a figure that has justified a regional, evidence-based movement to loosen restrictive abortion laws. Anti-abortion activists have reacted by working to cast doubt on the scientific consensus that accessible legal abortion saves lives. The misinformation they produce justifies abortion restrictions—including criminalization—that worsen maternal mortality and morbidity, undermine gender equity by constraining women's reproductive rights, and exacerbate risks especially for young, rural, unmarried, and poor women. As an anthropologist who studies global anti-abortion strategies and a physician-anthropologist who has practiced obstetrics and gynecology in Malawi, respectively, we write to identify the deceptive tactics and debunk the false claims featured in recent publications by abortion opponents. Our goal is to prepare readers who care about reducing maternal mortality—no matter their moral perspectives on abortion—to recognize and refute misinformation. We conclude with suggestions for how researchers might move beyond ideological disagreements to improve maternal health

Abortion · Misinformation · Political science · Pregnancy · Global Maternal and Child Health · Maternal and fetal healthcare · Medicine · Reproductive Health and Contraception

• The lesser evil'-Abortion and reproductive stigma among Ethiopian university students

  Open Access•Mulumebet Zenebe, Marte Emilie Sandvik Haaland•Social Science & Medicine•2025

  Incluir item

• Estimating Death

  Open Access•Claire L Wendland•Metrics•2016

  Incluir item

• The Obligation to Count

  Open Access•Adeola Oni‐orisan, Adeola Oni-Orisan•Metrics•2016

  Incluir item

• Unintended pregnancy and abortion by income, region, and the legal status of abortion

  Open Access•Jonathan Bearak, Anna Popinchalk et al.•The Lancet Global Health•2020

  Incluir item

• Global causes of maternal death

  Open Access•Lale Say, Doris Chou et al.•The Lancet Global Health•2014

  Incluir item

• A global analysis of the determinants of maternal health and transitions in maternal mortality

  Open Access•Juliano P Souza, João Paulo Souza et al.•The Lancet Global Health•2024

  Incluir item

• Women’s Mental Health and Well-being 5 Years After Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion

  M Antonia Biggs, Ushma D Upadhyay et al.•JAMA Psychiatry•2017

  Incluir item

• Understanding abortion-related complications in health facilities

  Open Access•Zahida Qureshi, Hedieh Mehrtash et al.•BMJ Global Health•2021

  Incluir item

• Abortion-related near-miss morbidity and mortality in 43 health facilities with differences in readiness to provide abortion care in Uganda

  Open Access•S Atuhairwe, Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson et al.•BMJ Global Health•2021

  Incluir item

• Unsafe Motherhood

  Nicole S Berry•Unsafe motherhood•2010

  Incluir item

• The U.S. Christian Right and Pro-Family Politics in 21st Century Africa

  Open Access•Haley Mcewen•The U.S. Christian Right and…•2023

  Incluir item

• “I always know she cannot betray me.” Disclosure of abortion and methods of abortion used in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya

  Open Access•Ramatou Ouedraogo, Shelmith Wanjiru et al.•PLOS Global Public Health•2024

  Incluir item

• Causes of maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa

  Open Access•Reuben Musarandega, Michael Nyakura et al.•Journal of Global Health•2021

  Incluir item

• The Incidence of Abortion in Nigeria

  Akinrinola Bankole, Isaac F Adewole et al.•International Perspectives on…•2015

  Incluir item

• Anti‐abortion strategizing and the afterlife of the Geneva Consensus Declaration

  Open Access•Lynn M Morgan•Developing World Bioethics•2023

  Incluir item

• Cost of abortions in Zambia

  Open Access•Dhruv Parmar, Tiziana Leone et al.•Global Public Health•2015

  Incluir item

• The trouble with maternal death narratives

  Open Access•Adeola Oni‐orisan•Global Public Health•2023

  Incluir item

• Maternal Mortality from Induced Abortion in Malawi

  Open Access•Calum Miller•International Journal of…•2021

  Incluir item

• The access paradox

  Open Access•Astrid Blystad, Haldis Haukanes et al.•International Journal for Equity…•2019

  Incluir item

• Guilty until proven innocent”

  Open Access•Katerini T Storeng, Dominque P Behague et al.•Critical Public Health•2016

  Incluir item

• A scoping review considering the processes involved in changing abortion laws in low- and middle-income countries

  Open Access•Carmen Hall, Judith Daire et al.•Health Policy and Planning•2023

  Incluir item

• Maternal deaths should simply be 0’

  Open Access•Arne Melberg, Andrea Melberg et al.•Health Policy and Planning•2019

  Incluir item

• A Stalled Revolution? Misoprostol and the Pharmaceuticalization of Reproductive Health in Francophone Africa

  Open Access•Siri Suh•Frontiers in Sociology•2021

  Incluir item

• The health system cost of post-abortion care in Uganda

  Open Access•Michael Vlassoff, Frederick Mugisha et al.•Health Policy and Planning•2014

  Incluir item

• Reproductive Health in Romania

  Charlotte Hord, Henry P David et al.•Studies in Family Planning•1991

  Incluir item

• What post-abortion care indicators don't measure

  Open Access•Siri Suh•Social Science & Medicine•2020

  Incluir item

• Examining the association of abortion history and current mental health

  Open Access•Julia R Steinberg, Lawrence B Finer•Social Science & Medicine•2011

  Incluir item