Millions of women are risking serious illness or injury every year as a result of clandestine and unsafe abortions, a report has warned.

Even in countries where termination of a pregnancy is legal, women are turning to underground providers, risking long-term health problems and, in the most severe cases, death.

A new report on women’s access to abortion around the world by United States think tank the Guttmacher Institute estimates that up to 31,000 women die every year as a result of botched abortions and around seven million are injured or made ill.

Complications include incomplete abortion, when part of the fetal tissue is left in the uterus; infection; heavy bleeding; and damage to the genital tract and internal organs when a sharp object such as a stick, glass or knitting needle is inserted.

Abortion rates are similar in countries where it is broadly legal and where it is highly restrictive – 34 abortions take place for every 1,000 women in countries where it is not restricted and 37 per 1,000 where it is legal.