Abortion in the Gambia

In the Gambia, abortion is illegal except to save the life of the mother or to prevent birth defects. Abortions in the Gambia have high rates of mortality and complications. Abortions are common among adolescents. The Gambia has a stigma surrounding extramarital pregnancy and abortion, and most women's rights groups in the country oppose it. Government facilities provide medically necessary abortions using misoprostol.

Abortions were rarely prosecuted in the 20th century. The country's abortion law, written in 1933 under the colonial government, was based on a British law that banned abortion with no legal grounds. Following the Gambia's ratification of the Maputo Protocol and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Women's Act of 2010 legalised abortion in the case of risk to life of the mother or fetus. The country has had little public debate about abortion, especially under the authoritarian presidency of Yahya Jammeh. The Sexual and Reproductive Rights Network, founded in 2019, has advocated for the legalisation of abortion. International organizations have urged the country to bring its law in line with treaties.