# Abortion in Botswana > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Abortion_in_Botswana > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Abortion_in_Botswana.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Botswana > Source revision: 1331536377 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Abortion in Botswana** is only legal if the [abortion](/source/Abortion) will save the woman's life, if the [pregnancy](/source/Pregnancy) gravely endangers the woman's physical or mental health, or if it is [a result of rape](/source/Pregnancy_from_rape) or [incest](/source/Incest).[1] In [Botswana](/source/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.[1] ## Impact of restrictive abortion laws Though women in Botswana are recognized as having some of the best access to abortions in [Sub-Saharan Africa](/source/Sub-Saharan_Africa) because of these exceptions, many women are still resorting to unsafe abortions and [self-induced abortions](/source/Self-induced_abortions), commonly leading to [maternal death](/source/Maternal_death).[1] ## Socio-cultural impacts on abortion In Botswana, many families still follow the [lobola](/source/Lobola) custom where men pay a woman's family in order to take her as a bride.[2] This is a way of thanking the parents of the wife for building and molding such a young lady. ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-UN_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-UN_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-UN_1-2) [*Abortion Policies: Afghanistan to France*](https://books.google.com/books?id=3iNmQIP7S2AC&q=abortion+in+botswana). United Nations Publications. 2001. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789211513653](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789211513653). Retrieved 4 December 2014. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Botswana_reproductive_health_2-0)** Smith, Stephanie S. (Dec 2013). ["Reproductive health and the question of abortion in Botswana: a review"](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). *African Journal of Reproductive Health*. **17** (4). 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Catholicism Hinduism Islam Judaism Scientology Category --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Abortion in Botswana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Botswana) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Botswana?action=history)). 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