Grenada
ABORTION POLICY
Grounds on which abortion is permitted:
To save the life of the woman Yes
To preserve physical health Yes
To preserve mental health Yes
Rape or incest No
Foetal impairment No
Economic or social reasons No
Available on request No
Additional requirements:
Information is not readily available.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CONTEXT
Government view on fertility level: Too high
Government intervention concerning fertility level: To lower
Government policy on contraceptive use: Direct support provided
Percentage of currently married women using
modern contraception (aged 15-44): ..
Total fertility rate (1995-2000): ..
Age-specific fertility rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19, 1995-2000): ..
Government has expressed particular concern about:
Morbidity and mortality resulting from induced abortion ..
Complications of childbearing and childbirth ..
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births, 1990):
National ..
Caribbean 400
Female life expectancy at birth (1995-2000): ..
Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of
the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
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Grenada
BACKGROUND
In Grenada, abortion is governed by sections 234, 247 and 250 of the Criminal Code. Under the Code,
the performance of an abortion is generally illegal, whether performed by the woman herself or another
person. Nonetheless, the Code authorizes the performance of abortions for therapeutic purposes. It provides
that any act which is done, in good faith and without negligence, for the purpose of medical or surgical
treatment of a pregnant woman is justifiable, although it causes or is intended to cause abortion or
miscarriage, or premature delivery, or the death of the child. The Code does not define the exact scope of
medical or surgical treatment.
The Government of Grenada supports family planning and has adopted an official population policy. In
1974, the Government began integrating family planning services into the national health programme. As of
1990, family planning services were available in all health-care clinics throughout the country. The Grenada
Planned Parenthood Association provides family planning services through government health centres and a
community-based distribution programme, with support from the Ministry of Health.
Contraceptive awareness is widespread in Grenada. According to a 1987 survey, 90 per cent of women
knew of at least one contraceptive method and 73 per cent knew of three or more methods. However, when it
came to the actual use of contraception, only 54 per cent of married women aged 15-44 reported using any
method of contraception. The main reasons given for not using contraception were the desire for more
children and fear of the side effects of contraceptives. As elsewhere in the Caribbean, the rate of adolescent
pregnancies is high: teenage mothers represented 26 per cent of total births in 1987. Girls in Grenada under
the age of 16 that are found to be pregnant are dismissed from school as a matter of educational policy.
Source: The Population Policy Data Bank maintained by the Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Affairs of
the United Nations Secretariat. For additional sources, see list of references.
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