An exploration of the causes of abortions among adolescent girls in Chingola and Chililabombwe districts.

This study was an investigation on exploration of the causes of abortions among adolescent girls in chingola and Chililabombwe districts. The objectives of this study were to explore the knowledge about abortion among adolescent girls, describe the current state of abortion among adolescent girls, and describe factors that influence the adolescent girls to undergo unsafe abortion also to explore existing measures against abortion among teenagers. Expert purposive sampling procedure was used to select the 10 counselors who had treated abortion survivors. The health workers were necessary to provide an expert perspective on the causes of and measures to reduce abortion and also recommendations on how safe abortion can be made available to adolescents. The 20 adolescent girls who experienced abortion were picked purposively based on the hospital records and their willingness to participate in the study. The main findings of this research were that To this end the findings outline knowledge levels of abortion and prevalence of abortions among adolescent girls; factors that induce adolescents to opt for unsafe abortions and interventions that aimed at addressing the problem of unsafe abortion. The recommendations were therefore to increase the knowledge levels among adolescents on unsafe abortion, there is need to incorporate it as part of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health in the school curriculum. Those who are not in the school system can be reached through tailor made community awareness campaigns and through the mass media, and it is important to establish specialized safe houses for adolescent girls who fall pregnant where they can be provided with specialized counseling services to guide them in their decisions and also to provide material support for those who are too vulnerable to provide material support for their unborn child. The study therefore concludes that there is need to incorporate abortion issues as part of the curriculum for comprehensive sexual education. It is also necessary to emphasize issues of abortion not just as a medical or social issue, but also as a legal and human rights issue.