In the 21st century, initiatives have made post-abortion care safer in Libreville and educated midwives about procedures.
Article 376 of the penal code of Gabon says abortion may be punished by up to five years of prison or a fine of 2 million CFA francs.
[8] Since 2019, the Social Sciences Research Institute of Omar Bongo University has held an annual conference about the prevalence of unsafe abortion.
[9] In March 2021, a law was proposed to the Parliament of Gabon that would increase the gestational limit, remove the requirement of approval from a physician, and expand the grounds to include distress that is not "serious".
The law did not add legal grounds; Prime Minister Rose Christiane Raponda said, "It is not yet the right time.
Raponda said, "The legal changes aim to tackle the issues of violence and discrimination that women face in our society.
[12] In June 2023, under the administration of Ali Bongo Ondimba, the Council of Ministers of Gabon approved a draft law that would permit abortion if the pregnancy caused distress to the woman, had a risk of fetal deformities, or resulted from rape or incest.
Gabon Media Time wrote in 2024 that these pages offer abortions up to eight months of pregnancy, some of which use unspecified abortifacents, for prices between 28,500 and 138,500 francs.
[17] Gabon's rate of termination of pregnancy is one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, compared to the regional average of about 16%, as of the early 2020s[update].
This method is used by adolescents, who view it as a discreet and low-cost strategy, and by older women who wish to limit their births.
Abortions are induced by vaginally inserting objects such as papaya roots, cassava leaves, or ndolé, or by ingesting lemon, ginger, grass, salt, bleach, permanganate or quinine.
[4][24] A self-report study found that 40% of self-induced abortions in Gabon result in complications of varying degrees.
[24] Women wishing to perform medical abortions can buy the drug at low costs from market vendors, pharmacists, and physicians.
[25] Out of fear of legal repercussions, women who terminate pregnancies often avoid medical treatment unless complications occur.
[26] A subsequent initiative introduced manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) to the hospital, replacing dilation and curettage (D&C), in line with WHO guidelines.
[22] Réseau GCG was founded with the goal of educating the public about PAC in Gabon, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea.
In the following ten years, GCG trained 500 providers in MVA, misoprostol regimens, and post-abortion IUD insertion, leading to a reduction in maternal mortality.