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“Don’t do it, but do it” : Exploring a legal window of opportunity for safe abortion and the role of healthcare practitioners in implementing the right to health in Ethiopia

Ternström, Anna LU (2023) MIDM19 20231
Department of Human Geography
LUMID International Master programme in applied International Development and Management
Abstract
Unsafe abortion is a major contributing factor to maternal mortality with 47,000 largely avoidable deaths occurring globally every year, the majority in the global south. Ethiopia has taken a unique approach to addressing maternal mortality impacted by unsafe abortion through a 2005 reform of the abortion legislation in which abortion is illegal but available under a range of exceptions. The purpose of this thesis is to bridge health and human rights perspectives by approaching abortion through a right-based perspective and investigates how healthcare workers work towards the fulfilment of the right to health through safe abortion implementation in Ethiopia. Through a thematic analysis of 10 semi-structured interviews and Lipsky’s theory... (More)
Unsafe abortion is a major contributing factor to maternal mortality with 47,000 largely avoidable deaths occurring globally every year, the majority in the global south. Ethiopia has taken a unique approach to addressing maternal mortality impacted by unsafe abortion through a 2005 reform of the abortion legislation in which abortion is illegal but available under a range of exceptions. The purpose of this thesis is to bridge health and human rights perspectives by approaching abortion through a right-based perspective and investigates how healthcare workers work towards the fulfilment of the right to health through safe abortion implementation in Ethiopia. Through a thematic analysis of 10 semi-structured interviews and Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracy, the results reveal that views on abortion sit on a spectrum which reflect the 2005 legislation and that healthcare workers play a key role as gatekeepers for abortion access. Further, the analysis shows the importance of civil society actors for the fulfilment of the right to health. The study concludes that abortion is still stigmatised both by health providers and users but the argument of abortion as a life saving procedure is increasing acceptability. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ternström, Anna LU
supervisor
organization
course
MIDM19 20231
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
SDG3, SDG4, safe abortion, SRHR, human rights, HRBA, street-level bureaucracy, global health
language
English
id
9117774
date added to LUP
2023-06-08 15:35:16
date last changed
2023-06-08 15:35:16
@misc{9117774,
  abstract     = {{Unsafe abortion is a major contributing factor to maternal mortality with 47,000 largely avoidable deaths occurring globally every year, the majority in the global south. Ethiopia has taken a unique approach to addressing maternal mortality impacted by unsafe abortion through a 2005 reform of the abortion legislation in which abortion is illegal but available under a range of exceptions. The purpose of this thesis is to bridge health and human rights perspectives by approaching abortion through a right-based perspective and investigates how healthcare workers work towards the fulfilment of the right to health through safe abortion implementation in Ethiopia. Through a thematic analysis of 10 semi-structured interviews and Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracy, the results reveal that views on abortion sit on a spectrum which reflect the 2005 legislation and that healthcare workers play a key role as gatekeepers for abortion access. Further, the analysis shows the importance of civil society actors for the fulfilment of the right to health. The study concludes that abortion is still stigmatised both by health providers and users but the argument of abortion as a life saving procedure is increasing acceptability.}},
  author       = {{Ternström, Anna}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{“Don’t do it, but do it” : Exploring a legal window of opportunity for safe abortion and the role of healthcare practitioners in implementing the right to health in Ethiopia}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}