Dr. Ebo Jehu-Appiah, the Country Director of Ipas, has revealed startling methods being used by some women to abort pregnancy. He said aside the use of various concoctions to get rid of their unwanted pregnancies, others go to the extent of doing the unimaginable by inserting red-hot metals, and even coat hangers, into their vagina to force the foetus out. Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, Dr Jehu-Appiah said apart from ignorance, others use these unorthodox means, purely, due to desperation and frustration. “I have actually seen the bodies of young ladies – 16, 17, 18, - sometimes as young as 12, who have sticks, rods, inserted in their private parts and the first time you see these situations they are in the morgue – dead.” He said some insert the metal object deep inside and in the process cause damage to the uterus and other intestines, making them susceptible to infections. The burnt uterus, he said, would change colour to black, thus, complicating their condition, which eventually lead to death. He noted most deaths caused by abortion are not recorded because society frowns upon it. Dr. Jehu-Appiah, a former General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association, was speaking in support of the need to legalize abortion in Ghana to save needless deaths caused by unsafe abortion. He said people are deceived into believing that one can easily get miscarriage when they get extremely scared or when force is applied on the stomach. Some women, therefore, ignorantly apply excessive force on the bloated tummy – by asking people to jump repeatedly on their tummy; falling intentionally; and massaging their stomach – in order to get rid of the unborn baby, he observed. Abortion, he said, is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in Ghana and asked the government to legalize it to prevent the “senseless deaths”. It would also help the country to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality by 75%. He noted that unsafe abortions account for 30% of maternal deaths recorded at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, while 22% of maternal deaths at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi is caused by induced self-abortion. “People are not thinking about the death of such women due to such senseless practices… Ghana being very religious, we are being careful in talking about such issues. I don’t think it is also fair to see such young people dying just because they don’t have information; just because men are using, abusing and dumping these girls, so out of frustration these girls would have to find some solutions. “If we do not make such services available, such people will die and we cannot account for them,” he remarked as he tried to convince people to buy into the legalization idea. Ipas is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving women's lives internationally through a focus on reproductive health. Source: Isaac Essel Myjoyonline.com/Ghana