Benin’s 2021 abortion law: where implementation stands, and what other countries can learn

In October 2021, Benin’s National Assembly widened access to safe abortion. Law 2021-12 of 20 December 2021 lets a woman end a pregnancy before 12 weeks when it may cause or worsen “material, educational, professional or moral distress” [9][10][29]. The government said more than 200 women died each year from unsafe abortions [1]. The implementing decree, No. 2023-151, came 16 months later, in April 2023 [28][29]. Five years on, Benin has published no national count of legal abortions. In one 2026 study, only one of nine public health facilities observed offered abortion care. Prices ranged from 20,000 to 100,000 CFA francs (about 18 to 152 euros), and four in five women who used unsafe methods did not know the law had changed [26][27].

Why Benin changed its law

Since 2003, Article 17 of Law 2003-04 on sexual and reproductive health had allowed abortion in three situations: when the pregnancy put the woman’s life or health in danger, when it resulted from rape or incest, and when the fetus had a particularly serious condition [1][9]. In practice, few women could use these grounds. Many turned to clandestine providers. Some non-profit providers, such as the IPPF member ABPF, offered post-abortion care and ran projects against abortion stigma, including a youth clinic in Cotonou [32].

The government presented the reform as a public health measure. Health Minister Benjamin Hounkpatin told deputies that “more than 200 women die in silence every year” from complicated and unsafe abortions. He described uterine perforations, gangrene and fatal haemorrhages [1]. “This measure is going to ease the pain of many women,” he said [2][3].

Estimates of the share of maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortion vary between sources. Reuters and Al Jazeera reported a Health Ministry estimate of 20% [3][4]. An APHRC researcher cited 15% [7]. An earlier APHRC, Rutgers and ABPF brief, citing a 2019 Ministry of Health assessment, gave 15 to 20% [12]. FIGO, citing WHO data, put Benin’s maternal mortality ratio at 397 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. That is about 1,600 maternal deaths a year [8].

Benin also ratified the Maputo Protocol. Article 14(2)(c) requires states to authorise medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape and incest, and where the pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the fetus [31]. With the 2021 law, Benin went beyond this minimum standard [7].

Events, 2021 to 2026

2021

• August 2021. Before the vote, Medical Students for Choice Bénin, the organisation’s first chapter in French-speaking Africa, published an advocacy booklet with PRB. It called for training providers in comprehensive abortion care and better knowledge of the legal framework [19].
• 20–21 October, National Assembly. The government presented the bill on 20 October. Deputies adopted it in a session that ran overnight from Wednesday 20 to Thursday 21 October. Sources give the vote date as either day [1][2][9]. Health, Social Affairs and Justice ministers defended the text. The minister said the aim was “to regulate abortion, not to encourage it” [1].
• October, Cotonou. Religious and political opposition was strong. AFP reported that the Episcopal Conference of Benin called legalisation “the culture of death” [2]. In a declaration dated 22 October, signed by its president, Bishop Victor Agbanou, the Conference expressed “deep regret” and called a day of fasting and prayer [5]. The President of the National Assembly, Louis Vlavonou, and deputy Aké Natondé spoke against the text [5][10].
• 27 October. Professor Francis Dossou, president of the National Order of Physicians, said on BBC Afrique that the vote troubled him personally as a Christian. He added that the final decision belongs to the woman, “because it is her body” [6]. Women’s rights activists welcomed the vote [4].
• 10 December, Cotonou. President Patrice Talon had referred the law to the Constitutional Court on 6 December. In decision DCC 21-320, the Court declared it constitutional “in all its provisions.” The President’s representative stressed that the law keeps abortion a medical act and states that it is “not a means of birth control” [9].
• 20 December. The President promulgated Law 2021-12. It amends Articles 17 to 17-7 and 19-1 of the 2003 law [10][11].

2022

• January to March, nationwide. Researchers at the University of Parakou surveyed 4,080 qualified health workers. Of these, 57.3% did not support the new law and 14.9% said they were ready to perform abortions. Another 21.7% refused outright. Religion (91.1%) and conscience (83.2%) were the main reasons given [14].
• 9 March, Geneva. WHO issued new abortion care guidelines. They recommend removing third-party authorisation, mandatory waiting periods and criminalisation, and sharing tasks with a wider range of health workers [13].
• 2022. APHRC, Rutgers and ABPF published a baseline study from Atlantique department, with fieldwork in 2021. Twelve of the 41 women interviewed who had had an abortion reported complications. The study found that equipment shortages, routine ultrasound requirements and high costs slowed post-abortion care [12].
• Late 2022. Ahead of the January 2023 legislative elections, Amnesty International noted that the law still had no implementing decree. Without it, the women’s right could not be exercised effectively. Amnesty asked candidates to push for its adoption [15].

2023

• 12 April, Cotonou. The Council of Ministers adopted the decree setting the conditions for voluntary termination of pregnancy [16].
• 19 April. Decree No. 2023-151 is dated 19 April 2023 [28][29]. APHRC and Rutgers date its publication to May 2023 [26][27]. Ipas announced on 25 May 2023 that access was “now effective” [17].
• October to December, Bohicon. Researchers ran community focus groups in Zou department. More than two years after the reform, only 16 of 62 participants knew about the change [23].

2024

• 31 January. The Parakou health worker survey was published in the European Scientific Journal [14].
• 15 May, Cotonou. Afrobarometer published a nationally representative survey of 1,200 adults, carried out from 29 January to 9 February 2024. In the survey, 65% said abortion is justified when the pregnancy threatens the woman’s health and 53% after rape or incest. But 63% rejected abortion for economic reasons [18].
• 22 October, Cotonou. RFLD convened 26 organisations to form a coalition for safe abortion in Benin, with support from AmplifyChange [20].
• 3 December. RFLD published its advocacy handbook for safe abortion in Benin [21].

2025

• 27 October. The Bohicon study was published. It found that word of mouth was the main channel of information about the law, and that rumours filled the gap left by official communication [23].
• 25 November. An Afrobarometer dispatch republished the 2024 opinion data. It recalled that more than 200 women die each year from unsafe abortion and that 31% of women of reproductive age had an unmet need for family planning in 2021 [24].

2026

• 20 May, Cotonou. ABPF, APHRC, Rutgers and the Ministry of Health launched the qualitative study “A way out of the maze” [25][26].
• 20 August, Cotonou. ARAYAA and Medical Students for Choice Cotonou held a validation workshop on a legal and ethical analysis of the abortion framework. The work is part of the PASS-SR project, funded by AmplifyChange. The advocacy axes they agreed on were: changing social discourse, updating national guidelines in line with WHO 2022, clarifying obligations on conscientious objection, and harmonising prices [28].
• 9–10 September, Grand-Popo. Cojas-Bénin trained journalists on the law. Participants listed poor knowledge of the text, stigma, cost, family pressure and variable quality of care as barriers [29].
• 1 October. Anthropologist Dr Mena Agbodjavou (Cerrhud) noted that under the 2023 decree, a provider who objects must declare it in writing and refer the woman to another qualified provider at the first consultation. She warned that a rise in abortions recorded at facilities does not by itself prove that use is rising in the population [30].

What the data show and what they do not

We found no official national figures on legal abortions in Benin for 2022 to 2026. No Ministry of Health report we could open counts the procedures, the approved facilities or the trained providers. The evidence comes from small studies and surveys, summarised below.

The 2026 study is not representative. Its authors say so clearly [26]. But its findings match the other studies: the law exists, yet women struggle to use it.

What the law says and where the gaps are

The law keeps the three earlier grounds, on a doctor’s prescription and with no gestational limit. It adds a ground based on a woman’s request: distress that is material, educational, professional or moral, up to 12 weeks of amenorrhoea [6][29]. It states that abortion is not a method of birth control [9][10]. The decree requires that a duly authorised doctor, midwife or nurse perform the procedure, in a public or private facility approved by the Minister of Health. It requires psychological and social support before and after, professional secrecy, and free, informed and renewed consent. It allows conscientious objection [16][17].

The gaps are clear from the research.

• Refusals in public facilities. Objection is often collective or imposed by facility managers, which goes beyond what the decree allows. Some providers do not refer women elsewhere [26].
• Hidden obstruction. Some providers add tests and paperwork until the woman passes 12 weeks [26].
• Cost. There is no harmonised price. Mandatory ultrasound and blood tests push prices up, and most services are in private or non-profit facilities [26][28].
• Adolescents. Minors need a legal representative’s consent. This pushes many girls toward clandestine methods [26].
• Silence. The state has not run a national information campaign we could find. Clandestine sellers advertise on social media [26][29].
• No data. There is no public monitoring of approved facilities, refusals, waiting times or costs [26][30].

What other countries can learn

Benin was the first French-speaking West African country to adopt such a law [17]. In 2017, only six African countries allowed abortion on request in the first trimester: Cabo Verde, South Africa, Tunisia, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Angola (up to 10 weeks). Zambia allowed socio-economic grounds [7]. Elsewhere, reform is slow. Sierra Leone’s Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Care Bill was tabled on 17 December 2024. It first proposed abortion on request up to 14 weeks, but it was still stalled in August 2026 after religious objections [22].

Benin’s experience offers four lessons:

1. Make the case in public health terms. Government ministers framed the reform as a way to save women’s lives. This framing carried a divided Assembly [1][2].
2. Pass the decree with the law. The 16-month wait between promulgation and decree left the right on paper only [15].
3. Regulate objection from the start. A written declaration and a duty to refer are in the decree. But without monitoring, whole facilities still refuse [26][30].
4. Budget for information and cost. A law that women do not know about, or cannot pay for, does not end unsafe abortion [23][26].

What RFLD asks for

1. The Ministry of Health should publish, each year, the list of approved facilities and providers by department, and the number of abortions and post-abortion care cases.
2. The Ministry of Health should guarantee at least one public facility in each commune that provides care, and enforce the duty to refer when a provider objects. Collective or institutional refusal should not be allowed.
3. The government should set a harmonised, affordable national price and cover care for adolescents and women living in poverty.
4. The government should update national guidelines in line with WHO’s 2022 guidance, including task-sharing and medical abortion [13][28].
5. The National Assembly should review the parental consent rule for minors, so that girls are protected and not pushed into clandestine abortion.
6. The government should run a national campaign on the law in French and national languages, through schools, community radio and health centres.
7. Professional orders and training schools should include abortion care and values clarification in initial and continuing training.
8. The government and partners should strengthen contraception and comprehensive sexuality education, to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place.

RFLD tools you can use today

• Advocacy handbook for safe abortion in Benin (December 2024): strategy, key messages and actions for public awareness and provider training [21].
• Coalition for safe abortion in Benin: 26 organisations working together since October 2024 [20].
• Women’s Rights Laws: Benin: the main texts on women’s rights in one place.
• Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in Benin report.
• Maputo Barometer 2026: track how states apply Article 14.
• The Maputo Protocol in your language, including Goun and Yoruba, for community sessions in Benin.
• Maputo Protocol Training Manual.
• Maternal and Child Health in West Africa (2025 report) and its country review.
• West Africa women’s rights laws: paper vs practice.
• CEDAW and UPR review calendar: plan shadow reports on Benin.
• RFLD Francophone Academy and the free course Advocacy Theory and Practice.

Conclusion

Benin made a brave and rational choice in 2021. Its leaders listened to the doctors who treat the consequences of unsafe abortion, and they acted. The law and the decree now give women a legal path to safe care. But the studies we reviewed all point the same way: a right that is unknown, refused at the door of public hospitals or priced out of reach still leaves women to die in silence. The next step is not a new law. It is the slow work of implementation: open services, fair prices, clear rules on objection, honest data and information in every language. RFLD and its coalition partners will keep working with the Ministry of Health, health workers and communities until the promise of 2021 reaches every woman and girl in Benin.

References

1. Government of Benin, “Encadrement de l’avortement au Bénin : le parlement adopte la loi modificative”, 21 October 2021, gouv.bj
2. Le360 Afrique / AFP, “Bénin : l’Assemblée vote la légalisation de l’avortement”, 21 October 2021, afrique.le360.ma
3. Sowetan / Reuters, “Benin joins handful of African countries to legalise abortion as parliament votes”, 22 October 2021, sowetan.co.za
4. Chisom Peter Job, Al Jazeera, “‘Letting women decide’: Activists hail Benin abortion vote”, 27 October 2021, aljazeera.com
5. Vatican News, “Bénin : les évêques disent non à l’avortement”, 27 October 2021, vaticannews.va
6. Edouard Djogbénou, Bénin Web TV, “Avortement : le président du Conseil de l’Ordre des médecins du Bénin exprime sa gêne sur la loi”, 27 October 2021, beninwebtv.bj
7. Ramatou Ouedraogo (APHRC), The Conversation / Daily Maverick, “Benin’s groundbreaking new abortion law will save the lives of many women”, 14 November 2021, dailymaverick.co.za
8. FIGO, “FIGO welcomes Benin’s new law to address preventable maternal deaths and disability by improving access to safe abortion”, 2021, figo.org
9. Constitutional Court of Benin, “Décision DCC 21-320 du 10 décembre 2021” (Law 2021-12), 10 December 2021, courconstitutionnelle.bj
10. Cochimau S. Houngbadji, Bénin Web TV, “Bénin : malgré la polémique, Patrice Talon promulgue la loi sur l’avortement”, 12 January 2022, beninwebtv.bj
11. WHO, health legislation database, “Loi n°2021-12 du 20 décembre 2021 modifiant et complétant la loi n°2003-04”, updated 28 May 2025, extranet.who.int
12. APHRC, Rutgers and ABPF, “Expériences de l’avortement au Bénin : déterminants sociaux et parcours de soins dans le département de l’Atlantique” (evidence brief), 2022, aphrc.org
13. WHO Regional Office for Europe, “WHO releases new guidelines on safe abortion”, 9 March 2022, who.int
14. Atade S. R. et al., European Scientific Journal, “Adhésion du personnel soignant à la nouvelle loi de légalisation de l’avortement au Bénin”, vol. 20 no. 3, 31 January 2024, eujournal.org
15. Amnesty International, “Manifeste pour la promotion et la protection des droits humains” (Benin, 2023 legislative elections), December 2022, amnesty.org
16. Cochimau S. Houngbadji, Bénin Web TV, “Bénin : adoption du décret fixant les conditions d’interruption volontaire de grossesse”, 13 April 2023, beninwebtv.bj
17. Karna Eugene Kone, Ipas, “Big win in Benin: Safe abortion access for women in Benin is now effective”, 25 May 2023, ipas.org
18. Afrobarometer / IREG, “Les citoyens béninois aspirent à l’autonomisation des femmes en santé reproductive” (press release), 15 May 2024, afrobarometer.org
19. Population Reference Bureau, “Les étudiantes en médecine s’élèvent pour l’avortement sécurisé au Bénin”, 23 August 2021, prb.org
20. RFLD, “Formation d’une coalition pour l’avortement sécurisé au Bénin”, 22 October 2024, rflgd.org
21. RFLD, “Publication du RFLD – Nouveau manuel sur le plaidoyer pour l’avortement sécurisé au Bénin”, 3 December 2024, rflgd.org
22. Abdulai Gbla, Health Policy Watch, “Why Sierra Leone’s Safe Motherhood Bill is still in limbo”, 19 August 2026, healthpolicy-watch.news
23. Amoussou A. S. E., Affo M. A., Both J., Ouedraogo R., Revue Africaine des Sciences Sociales et de la Santé Publique, “Avortement sécurisé au Bénin : perceptions communautaires de la loi recadrant l’interruption volontaire de grossesse dans la commune de Bohicon”, 27 October 2025, revue-rasp.org
24. Agbozo P., Kounoudji C., Tomavo L., Afrobarometer via allAfrica, “Bénin : AD1083 – La majorité des Béninois jugent l’avortement justifié dans certaines conditions…”, 25 November 2025, fr.allafrica.com
25. ABPF, APHRC and Rutgers, “Atelier de dissémination : Expériences de l’avortement au Bénin” (agenda), 20 May 2026, aphrc.org
26. APHRC, Rutgers and ABPF, “Une sortie du labyrinthe : vers un meilleur accès à l’avortement sécurisé pour les adolescentes et les femmes au Bénin” (executive summary), 2026, aphrc.org
27. Rutgers, APHRC and ABPF, “Out of the Maze: Expanding Access to Safe Abortion in Benin” (executive summary), 2026, rutgers.international
28. Armel Tognon, La Nouvelle Tribune, “Bénin : une étude pointe les obstacles à l’accès à l’IVG malgré la réforme”, 21 August 2026, lanouvelletribune.info
29. Eudoxie Nguessan, Bénin Web TV, “IVG au Bénin, la loi élargie en 2021 reste encore mal comprise”, 15 September 2026, beninwebtv.bj
30. Brunelle Tchobo, La Nouvelle Tribune, “IVG au Bénin : pourquoi la sécurisation se heurte à des résistances”, 1 October 2026, lanouvelletribune.info
31. African Union, “Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa” (Maputo Protocol), 11 July 2003, au.int
32. IPPF, “Benin: Association Béninoise pour la Promotion de la Famille (ABPF)”, country page, accessed October 2026, ippf.org