{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --> '''Abortion in Botswana''' is only legal if the [[abortion]] will save the woman's life, if the [[pregnancy]] gravely endangers the woman's physical or mental health, or if it is [[pregnancy from rape|a result of rape]] or [[incest]].<ref name=UN>{{cite book|title=Abortion Policies: Afghanistan to France|date=2001|publisher=United Nations Publications|isbn=9789211513653|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3iNmQIP7S2AC&q=abortion+in+botswana|access-date=4 December 2014}}</ref> In [[Botswana]], abortions that meet these requirements must be performed within the first 16 weeks of pregnancy in a government hospital and must be approved by two physicians.<ref name=UN />
== Impact of restrictive abortion laws == Though women in Botswana are recognized as having some of the best access to abortions in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] because of these exceptions, many women are still resorting to unsafe abortions and [[self-induced abortions]], commonly leading to [[maternal death]].<ref name=UN />
== Socio-cultural impacts on abortion == In Botswana, many families still follow the [[lobola]] custom where men pay a woman's family in order to take her as a bride.<ref name="Botswana reproductive health">{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Stephanie S.|title=Reproductive health and the question of abortion in Botswana: a review|journal=African Journal of Reproductive Health|date=Dec 2013|volume=17|issue=4|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CA353645992&v=2.1&u=sfpl_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1|access-date=4 December 2014}}</ref> This is a way of thanking the parents of the wife for building and molding such a young lady.
== References == {{reflist}} {{Botswana topics}} {{Abortion in Africa}} {{Abortion}}
[[Category:Healthcare in Botswana]] [[Category:Abortion by country|Botswana]] [[Category:Abortion in Africa|Botswana]]