In developing countries, regardless of the legal status of abortion, poor women in rural areas are at most risk of undergoing unsafe abortion. Trained providers may not be available or affordable. Women might choose to go to traditional practitioners or to self-induce abortion. Worldwide, the maternal mortality rate due to unsafe abortion is 0.4 per 100 unsafe abortions. Because adolescents often seek unsafe abortions and because they tend to wait to seek abortion later than do older women, they are at greater risk of complications.
Teenagers comprise a significant proportion of victims of unsafe abortion.
Restrictive legislation is associated with higher rates of unsafe abortion and correspondingly high mortality. The most common complications are incomplete abortion, tears in the cervix, perforation of the uterus, fever, infection, septic shock, and severe hemorrhaging. However, the actual number of deaths may be much greater because women who die outside of hospitals or in emergency wards may not have autopsies performed, and may not be identified as victims of unsafe abortion. Whether a woman receives appropriate medical care for complications resulting from unsafe abortion depends largely on the proximity and availability of emergency facilities and trained health providers. Social, cultural, legal, and economic barriers may prevent women from accessing treatment as well.