Alleged proposals to amend some parts of Nigeria’s criminal law to decriminalise Abortion have been condemned by the Catholic Church in the country. According to reports, in an attempt to lower maternal fatalities, the Federal Ministry of Health’s Health Promotion Department is thinking about increasing access to safe abortion. Nonetheless, the action was denounced in a statement by the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), which was represented by Very Rev. Fr. Zacharia Nyantiso Samjumi, its Secretary General. The Nigerian Constitution’s Section 33, which protects the right to life, is in direct opposition to legalising abortion, the Church underlined.
Instead of allowing abortion, the CSN called for the government to concentrate on teaching the public about human dignity and reproductive health, arguing that doing so would encourage a “culture of death.” The declaration emphasised the importance of protecting and upholding human dignity and the right to life, especially for unborn infants. The Church emphasised that the unborn child’s right to life is of utmost importance and urged Nigerians to oppose any legalisation of abortion. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that Nigeria had one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world in 2018, with 512 deaths for every 100,000 live births.
Health experts have voiced their support for safe access to abortion.
Given that Nigerian Legislation currently restricts abortion, unsafe abortions account for a sizable portion of this number. Nigeria performs over 1.25 million abortions a year, many of which are carried out in hazardous circumstances, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Unsafe abortions frequently lead to complications and are responsible for around 13% of maternal fatalities nationwide. However, abortion is only allowed when the woman’s life is in jeopardy, which forces many women to seek risky, illegal methods.
Human rights and women’s advocacy organisations have long maintained that impoverished women who are unable to pay for safe, covert abortions in private clinics are disproportionately impacted by restrictive abortion regulations. To increase access to safe procedures, groups such as the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) have advocated for the liberalisation of abortion regulations. As a means of saving women’s lives, health experts, including groups like the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), have voiced their support for safe access to abortion.
Clinicians emphasise that criminalising abortion does not end the practice.
As noted by SOGON, if safe, legal abortion techniques were made available, many of the fatalities caused by unsafe abortions may be prevented. Clinicians emphasise that criminalising abortion does not end the practice; rather, it pushes it underground, putting women’s health at greater danger. Nigeria has historically had abortion restrictions that stem from its colonial heritage, with the penal code being modelled after British law from the 19th century. Since independence, there have been few attempts to change the nation’s stringent abortion regulations.
A brief amendment to the law that permitted abortion for victims of Rape was made in 1985, but it was swiftly repealed. Religious and cultural resistance, especially from the Catholic Church and other conservative organisations, has mainly thwarted more recent attempts to review the abortion provision. Many stakeholders suggest methods to address the problem of unsafe abortions while honouring the practice’s cultural and religious sensitivity. Both advocacy organisations and medical professionals generally agree that expanding access to contraception will help decrease the need for abortions.
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Another workable alternative is to enhance maternal healthcare services, especially in rural regions. Because of Nigeria’s inadequate healthcare system, many women do not have access to basic maternity care. Maternal mortality may be decreased without the need for abortion by funding Maternal Health services, offering thorough reproductive health education, and expanding access to prenatal and postnatal care. Nigerian public sentiment towards abortion is nuanced and contingent on regional, cultural, and religious considerations. According to a 2014 Afrobarometer poll, most Nigerians are against abortion legalization because they believe it to be immoral.