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Over 16,000 women (girls) went through legal abortions in Ghana between January and December 2011. That is the frightening figure put out by the Adolescent Health Development programme of the Ministry of Health. According to the statistics, an alarming 582 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 went through the process of abortion, representing 3.6 percent of the total figure. This was much higher than the 331 and 216 recorded in 2010 and 2009 respectively for the same year group. Moreover, 8,382 teenagers between the ages of 15-19 went through the procedure in 2011, representing 48.7 percent of the total number; a rise compared to the 2010 (6,670) and 2009 (5,525) figures. 8,382 adults above 20 years aborted fetuses between the same period. As if that was not enough, the Ghana Health Service also says the figure only represents a third of the total number of abortions that women underwent in the country within the period. The Service further revealed that unsafe abortions constitute 15 percent of maternal mortality (the second leading cause of maternal mortality in Ghana).