Roughly a third of all unsafe abortions in 2008 happened in South-Central Asia, according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.

In India, three out of every five abortions are carried out under unsafe conditions. Yet abortion has been legal in the country for almost 40 years.

Herbs, roots and sticks
There's nothing unique about the proportion of unsafe abortions in India. But what is striking is that the situation continues even though abortion has been legal in the country for so long.

Common unsafe abortion methods include inserting sticks, herbs, roots, and other substances into the uterus, or taking drugs from unreliable sources. But abortions are also counted as unsafe if they're carried out by unskilled providers or under conditions that don’t conform to standard medical practices. 

Women in India are being driven to seek unsafe abortions because of poor government facilities, high fees in the private sector, and a shortage of certified centres - one per 100,000 people.

Sometimes women opt for unsafe abortions just because they don't know abortion is actually legal. Eight-five percent of men and women surveyed in Rajastan didn't know abortion was legal, and the results in Madhya Pradesh were similar.

Legal yet unavailable
And even if women know they have the right to have an abortion, health care providers are known to refuse them routinely if a woman is married but childless, unmarried, or comes to the clinic alone. Clinics will also turn women away if they don't have the consent of their husband or other family members - even though this isn’t required by law.

So while legalising abortion is one step towards reducing unsafe abortions, the situation in India shows abortions can be legal yet still unavailable for many women.