At first glance, one might explain the unsafe abortion phenomenon in Ghana with the Feminist Theory. And while unsafe abortions are synonymous with women’s rights and unequal access to certain healthcare, there is a much better theory of explanation if we look deeper into the issue. Upon further research, the reason why Ghanaian women choose to undergo unsafe abortions is a more cultural one. Therefore, we could use the Interpretive Theory to explain how culture and beliefs have impacted the alarming rate of unsafe abortions in Ghana.

Lecture 1.5 from week one defines Interpretive Theory by posing the major questions this theory seeks to answer, as well as how data is collected and a broad explanation of the factors that compose this theory. It was stated in the lecture that this theory seeks to answer two big questions. First, what is the meaning that humans ascribe to this event or circumstance, and second, how does the meaning (the interpretation) of the event or circumstance impact human health? These two questions aim to understand how one’s cultural environment, or cultural beliefs, influences one’s behaviors that lead to various health outcomes. The lecture says this in a similar way by stating, how we think about health and disease impacts our behaviors, outcomes, and feelings. Or to put it more briefly, our cultural beliefs affect our biology.

In an excerpt from his book, “The Interpretation of Cultures”, Clifford Geertz describes the theory as such, “The essential vocation of interpretive anthropology is not to answer our deepest questions, but to make available to us answers that others, guarding other sheep in other valleys, have given, and thus to include them in the consultable record of what man has said,” (Geertz, 1973). If we break this definition down into its basic components, we notice that his definition more or less says that we make legitimate use of the explanations that other people provide to us.

Both definitions/explanations from the lecture from week one and Clifford Geertz’s book, help us to accurately interpret and understand the unsafe abortion crisis in Ghana. In my Activity Post from week four, I outlined seven major factors that contributed to the phenomenon, based on research conducted by BMC Women’s Health. Many of these factors accurately fit the definition of Interpretive Theory, and they are that abortion is perceived as taboo, there is a stigma attached to unplanned pregnancy, an avoidance of parental disappointment, and that women only want to bare children after marriage. All of these factors that influence a Ghanaian woman’s choice of pursuing an unsafe abortion, even when safe ones are available, have large in part to do with cultural beliefs and feelings. If a woman believes that her family will shun her for having an abortion in a hospital, she might pursue a secret unsafe abortion instead, with possible complications. Or, if a woman has been raped and no longer wishes to keep the child that was conceived, she may choose an unsafe abortion due to the criticism she could face from having an unplanned pregnancy. The overall pattern emerging is that Ghanaian women are choosing unsafe abortions due to the cultural scrutiny Ghanaian society places on these women.

References

Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York, NY: Basic Books.