Perceptions of senior high school girls in the new Juaben Municipality on Legalisation of abortion in Ghana

Abstract

The study investigated the perceptions of Senior High School girls in the New Juaben Municipality on legalisation of abortion in Ghana. Four research questions were posited to guide the descriptive survey design. A combination of purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample size of 455 girls from the schools in the municipality. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect data. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequencies, percentages and tables. The study revealed that SHS girls had inappropriate knowledge of methods of abortion, but adequate knowledge of safety methods (mixture of sugar and Guinness, n = 235), venues (clinic, n = 408) and providers of abortion (medical doctor, n = 419). They resort to abortion to enable them continue with their education (n = 218). They considered abortion not to be a right and suggested that it should not be legalised but only provided at the government hospital (n = 272) without the NHIS covering it (n = 370). The students’ perception about legalisation of abortion is that abortion is not a right and should not be legalised. It is recommended that the Government through the National Commission for Civic Education should educate SHS students on the abortion law in Ghana so that individuals will know what is required of them on issues connected with abortion.