‘‘I wasn’t ready’’ abortion decision-making pathways in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in the Sahel region of West Africa. Formerly a French colony, abortion in Burkina Faso is legally restricted to cases of fetal malformation, rape, incest, or when the pregnancy presents a danger to women’s health. Even in these cases where the laws make clear provision for abortion access (for rape survivors, for example), the challenges in the implementation of the related policies and lack of awareness about the laws lead to a crucial lack of access to legal abortion services.