PIP: Available data suggest that more than half of the gynecological admissions in Lesotho are due to abortion--incomplete, complete, inevitable, or induced. Accurate figures of abortions induced outside the hospital setting remain unknown as patients are usually unwilling to reveal such information. Nevertheless, it is estimated that about one-quarter of maternal deaths are secondary to complications of abortion; namely, severe hemorrhage, postabortal sepsis, poisoning from ingestion of abortifacients, and perforation. Contributing factors to unsafe abortion include: educational needs, failed contraception, stigma attached to childbearing out of wedlock, lack of support from spouse/family, disparity in contraceptive usage, religion, and lack of family planning services for adolescents. The government has shown its commitment to improvement of the quality of life of women by launching the Lesotho Safe Motherhood Initiative. The following strategies are suggested in an effort to reduce the incidence of unsafe abortions in Lesotho: 1) expansion of maternal health and family planning services; 2) health education; 3) provision of family planning services for adolescents; 4) empowerment of women; 5) promotion of research in health and related issues; 6) compulsory education; 7) health statutes, laws, policies, and law reform; and 8) establishment of a gynecological emergency theater.