Abortion is a word that is as highly emotive for women as it is for men and its high time we talk deeply about it beyond the headlines. In Nigeria, abortion is illegal unless the life of the woman would be at risk if she were to give birth. A law dating back from 1861!
Estimates range that there are between 456,000 – 750,000 abortions in Nigeria every YEAR! 60% of those are “unsafe.” 10,000 women die every year in Nigeria from unsafe abortions, carried out by untrained people in unsanitary conditions. That is 27 deaths every DAY! Yet abortion remains a taboo subject and in 2008 BBC could only get 12 (anonymous) women to partake in research.
Abortions means there needs to be a push for the liberalization of the law to make it more responsive to modern day realities. Often people cite religious sentiments rather than pragmatic realities that the alarming increase in maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortions.
In 1978, Italy, a predominantly Catholic country, passed a law that went against even the Vatican allowing women from 18 years right to abortion. I have not even touched on the instances of women who become pregnant from rape, incest and child abuse from even their own fathers! Why should a woman, who becomes pregnant as a result of sexual violation be forced to keep the pregnancy against her will?
In 2010 Justice Ishaq Bello of the FCT High Court called for the reform of abortion law in Nigeria with “very stringent safeguards.” Yet the law remains unchanged and just today another 27 women lost their lives seeking unsafe abortions.
Tokunbo Koiki (@toksyk27) discussing on a No Holds Barred (#NHB) session about Abortion on Twitter.
ubaekwena 