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Abortion in Nigeria


Abortion in Nigeria 
"Safe abortion, my right; safe abortion, my choice. I say it loud, cause i'm proud of it. Safe abortion, my right!"
               Erin Williams
    In Nigeria, abortion is illegal and carries a heavy jail sentence up to 14 years imprisonment unless it is performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. Nevertheless, a large number of abortions continue to be carried out regularly, often with dire consequences for the lives and health of the women involved, hence the need to legalise abortion. 
         
        An Overview of Abortion 
    Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. An abortion that occurs without being induced is known as a "miscarriage" or "spontaneous abortion", it occurs in 30% to 50% of pregnancies. 
    When carried out properly, abortion is one of the safest procedures in medicine, but unsafe abortion is a major cause of maternal death, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Making safe abortion legal and accessible reduces maternal deaths. It is safer than child birth, which has a 14 times higher risk of death. Modern methods use medication or surgery for abortions. The drug mifepristone in combination with prostagladin appears to be as safe and effective as surgery during the first and second trimester of pregnancy. The most common surgical suction technique involves dilating the cervix and using a suction device. Birth control such as the pill or intrauterine devices can be used immediately following abortion. When performed legally and safely on a woman who desires it; induced abortions do not increase the risk of long term mental or physical problems. In contrast, unsafe abortions (those performed by unskilled individuals with hazardous equipment or unsanitary facilities) cause 47,000 deaths and 5 million hospital admissions each year. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends safe and legal abortions be accessible to all women.

        Abortion Laws in Nigeria 
   Nigerian Doctors are aware of the abortion laws of Nigeria's Criminal Code sections 228, 229 and 230. Section 228, which ruled that any person providing abortion to a woman is guilty of a felony and up to 14 years of imprisonment. 
Section 229 added that any woman obtaining abortion is guilty of a felony and up to imprisonment for 7 years. 
Section 230 added that anyone supplying anything intended for a woman's miscarriage is also guilty of a felony and up to 3 years of imprisonment. 
    On the other hand, the Penal Code which operates in Northern States has abortion laws in Section 232, 233 and 234. The sections of the Penal Code parallel the Criminal Code, besides the exception for abortion with the purpose of saving the life of the mother. The Penal Code's punishments include imprisonment, fine or both. The offences of these codes are punishable regardless of whether the abortion was successful. No provisions have been made to the Criminal Code making exceptions for the preservations of the mother's life. 

    Inspite of these laws, abortion is on a meteoric rise. Unsafe abortion is a major contributor of the country's high levels of maternal death, ill health, and disability. Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, and little improvement has occurred in recent years. 
Putting the popularity of unsafe abortion into perspective, 56% of unintended pregnancies end in an induced abortion, 32% end in an unplanned birth and 12% in miscarriage.
   When individuals are denied abortion services, they go for other options usually nurses, community health workers, traditional birth attendants and pharmacists. While abortion practices are illegal in hospitals, abortion drugs can be easily gotten over-the-counter in chemist shops in several parts of the country. These drugs when used at the early stage of pregnancy, the risk of complication is low. Per 100 women around 3 will need medical care. For women that seek abortion services late into the pregnancy, the drug alone may not be good enough for the abortion as evacuation may be needed. 
   The deaths associated with unsafe abortion will continue to rise until either unintended pregnancies are significantly reduced by aggressively promoting various 
family planning methods including unpopular ones such as vasectomy, and/or putting systems in place to ensure safe abortion. 

Author: Adewale Ifeoluwa

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