Does the Law Make Sense in Advancing Women’s Rights to Sexual and Reproductive Health in Uganda? Experiences from Eastern Uganda

Abstract

Abstract This paper is based on an ethnographic investigation of experiences of abortion care delivery in eastern Uganda between August 2018- March 201 Advances on liberalization of the law on abortion as an avenue for advancement of women’s freedom and rights to sexual and reproductive health. However, findings from both public and private profit-making health facilities, indicate that: (i) Inside liberalized contexts, all aspects of life (including care practice, and the restrictive law on abortion), was evaluated in the image of the economy. The boundary between right and wrong, legal and illegal is replaced with instrumental viability based on the level of economic value. (ii) Abortion care delivery can no longer be universally interpreted. In profit making health facilities, provision of abortion care service was motivated by the desire for pecuniary interests and so, care was interpreted as a means towards financial goals. Healthcare delivery practice that can be considered to be inherently good without any qualification-were largely observed within publicly owned health facilities. The tension between the duty to serve and the desire to make profits undermine the ethic of duty to care. (iii) Abortion care involved use both allowed and prohibited medical technologies, whose choice and application were mediated through the desire for money. Use of medical technologies in panic triggered fear, resulting in increased risks injuries to patients and this also introduced maladaptive practices in care. Therefore, restrictive boundaries and regulation create dark zones in healthcare, which are difficult to monitor and regulate. Removal of legal restrictions is necessary to bring abortion care under full control and regulation health regulatory bodies.