Incidence of induced abortions and the severity of abortion related complications in Kenya

In Kenya, abortion is largely legally restricted. Many women who face unintended pregnancies resort to clandestine and/or unsafe abortion methods and procedures. Kenya’s last national study on abortion incidence, conducted in 2012 by the Ministry of Health, the African Population and Health Research Center, and the Guttmacher Institute, found that an estimated 464,000 induced abortions occurred that year. 1 It also estimated that 119,912 women received facility-based care for complications of induced abortions, highlighting the need to strengthen awareness of and access to these vital services, especially for vulnerable and marginalized groups like adolescent girls and young women.

With more than 13 years since the previous study, there is a need to understand the current landscape of abortion and the severity of abortion-related complications in Kenya. This brief presents findings on a new study conducted in 2023 that estimated abortion incidence, unintended pregnancy, and the severity of post-abortion complications in all eight regions in Kenya.