(the following is from Helina, one of our youth bloggers in Ethiopia)

Abortion has been a controversial issue in all parts of the world. In some countries, abortion is allowed, while in others it is outlawed. In my country, Ethiopia, abortion is allowed if one of the following conditions is met.

Nowadays, many young women’s encounter with the incident of unwanted pregnancy and they try to solve this problem usually by abortion in dangerous and unsafe way.
 

I am working in a sexual reproductive health organization and come across with a number of young girls aged 15-22 who want to stop the unwanted pregnancy. From them, I met a young girl age of 14 and told me she was four month pregnant. I advised her to go the nearby clinic run by an international NGO namely Mary Stopes. I tried to convince her about the problem regarding unsafe abortion and its consequences in an eloquent manner.
 

However after she left our center, she immediately found an old woman and took traditional medicines to abort pregnancy. Once that attempt was failed, she tried with knitting needle two months later. As the result, she was bleeding and died before reaching to hospital.
 

The above true story of a young girl is one example of how abortion is a serious problem in my country. Moreover, it exposes many young women to fistula and HIV/AIDS. Due to this fact, a large number of youth associations and organizations are working hard to create awareness on the consequence of unwanted pregnancy. However much has to be done in order to save the lives of many!!!