Stay Woke! An Unsafe Abortion Can Be A Death Wish

If a girl is not ready for a child yet, her most dreaded moment is when her period takes forever to come. All sorts of things will come to mind. Could it be a disease? Did something wrong fluke its way into her  diet? Or, could it be a pregnancy? The longer it takes for the periods to come, the faster her worst fears start to assume a form of “reality”. The prayers and fasting begin, until she decides to go for a pregnancy test.  She finds out that she is indeed pregnant. “WHAT AM I GOING TO DO??”, she wonders.

In the traditional African setting, it is a sure beating from her father, shaming by the entire community, deception in her mother’s eyes,dropping out of school and literally visualizing her dreams down the drain. So she starts thinking about getting an abortion!

She is convinced that getting an abortion is the best decision but she can’t tell her parents or guardians because they will kill her if they ever found out, right? Besides, abortion is restricted in Uganda! In the end, her only option is an unsafe abortion.

If you are ever in a situation like that, here are some things you should know before you go ahead with that decision to practise unsafe abortion.

P.S: A lot of risks and perhaps a few consequences that may make you think twice:

• Complications may lead to infertility (you will not be able to ever have babies) or death!
• Incomplete abortion when they fail to remove all of the pregnancy tissue from the uterus. And this will lead to more complications in the future.
• Heavy bleeding also called hemorrhage. I don’t know about you but period bleeding is already enough for me!
• Infections
• Holes in the uterus caused when it is pierced by a sharp object such as the scalpel  used during the procedure.
• Damage to the genital tract and internal organs by inserting dangerous objects such as sticks, knitting needles, or broken glass into the vagina or anus and drinking detergents like jik or omo.

So let me ask you a question: Is it really worth it? What is your parents’ anger, a few relatives’ angry words compared to risking the loss of your life? Besides, at your young age there is still a future ahead, and that means there is a lot you stand to achieve

Just a reminder though, always keep it safe. Employ the various contraceptive methods on the market and you can skip all these risks. Or if you can, practice abstinence.

For counselling and other youth friendly health services visit health centers here

Story By; Raissa Alexia Mbolo