This assessment employed a descriptive cross-sectional mixed-method approach to address the question of abortion with particular emphasis on unsafe abortion of women in Hebron governorate-Southern West Bank-Palestine. In the quantitative part of the study, women attending the PFPPA clinics and service delivery points at four urban and rural sites were targeted with a questionnaire. Using purposive non-random sampling method, a total of 541 participants was chosen from women who had at least one abortion experience during their lifetime and are service users at the said facilities. At the qualitative part of the study various stakeholders were interviewed using different interviewing format. Two focus group interviews were conducted; the first was with health and social work professionals selected from MOH and NGOs while the second was with the PFPPA staff solely. At the macro policy and strategic levels, expert opinion was solicited through a small group interview with selected stakeholders being senior service providers, managers, policy makers or planners in the areas of; healthcare, human rights, law and social work. A total of 21 professionals and experts participated in this qualitative study component.

The study sheds some light and provided insights on abortion experience spontaneous and induced; safe and unsafe as well as pertinent reproductive health aspects such as age of marriage, age at first childbirth, and family planning methods use and none-use. It evidently showed that abortion is not a rare experience for Palestinian women in Hebron-Southern West Bank. The overall percent of women who experienced abortion at least once in their lifetime was more than 70% of the total. Around 49% of the participants confidants told them they too underwent the same experience. Of the total; around half were married, more than 40% had their first pregnancy and 28% had their first childbirth, all at18 years of age or less.