Should Abortion Be Legalised In Nigeria? Yes, No

20.10.2007 By Francis Nwosu and Emmanuel Ugoji

Imagine you were held at gunpoint by a gang of armed robbers while your wife or daughter is being gang-raped in your home. About a month later, the rape victim tells you she is pregnant. You are thus confronted with several difficult questions. What would you do? Keep the pregnancy? Abort it? Have the baby and keep it or give it up for adoption? This topic came up for discussion recently at a media workshop on female reproductive health and rights.

Abortion has become a highly contentious issue in Nigeria. The pro-life and pro-choice have their strong points. But the fact remains that abortion is subsumed under the wider subject of female reproductive health and rights.

The pro-choice have called for a review of Nigeria's abortion law. They say that the law does not allow women to decide what to do with a pregnancy. On the other hand, the pro-life group wants the law to remain. They reason that abortion is ungodly, immoral and culturally and traditionally unacceptable.

Mr. Segun Aribike, a father of three, says though he is pro-life, it will be difficult psychologically for a family to keep a baby that is the product of rape. He would not allow his wife to keep such a pregnancy. He said, “It must be aborted. There is no absolute right here. My wife's right under this circumstance is subject to mine.”

Aribike, a Baptist, and a media practitioner cited a case in Ireland, a Catholic nation, where abortion is forbidden. According to him, a teenage girl had become pregnant following a rape, and had to be granted a special concession by the government to procure abortion in The Netherlands. He said, “The government had to step in as the matter had generated a nationwide debate. In the end, the girl had to obtain abortion – not in Ireland, but in The Netherlands.”

Mrs. Nkechi Okoronkwo, an Anglican and mother of four, does not feel any different. Okoronkwo said, “It is better to have that pregnancy terminated than sacrifice your marriage on the altar of an illegitimate child. Culturally, any child by such a means is illegitimate. Forget what the law says. Keep the child and remain for the rest of your life under the trauma of being the mother of an armed robber's child. The psychological burden of bearing such a child will be too much for any woman to bear.”

Islam, like Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, abhors abortion. Islamic groups have come out very strongly to resist any attempt to tinker with the law on abortion. But is there an exception to the law under Islam?

Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi says he would not allow his wife to keep such a pregnancy. Abdullahi said, “What will I do with such a child? You do not bring a child and make him or her to suffer. Such a child will not have the right of inheritance under Islamic law. Therefore, one is left to use his discretion under Ijtihad to deal with such a circumstance. Ijtihad is the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal source.”

Alhaji Alli Hakeem, a father of eight, agrees with Abdullahi, insisting that he must ensure that his wife or daughter aborts the pregnancy. Hakeem said, “That is if I survive the robbers, because I must resist them.”

Also speaking in the same vein, Mr. Kola Danisa, a Catholic, says he must not have such a child. Danisa said, “Abortion is evil. But under the circumstance, I will not allow my wife or daughter to keep the pregnancy.”

But the pro-life are insisting that abortion must not be condoned under any circumstance. Sir Andrew Odigie, President, Catholic Knights of Ibadan Archdiocese, is against abortion. Odigie said, “Attempts at legalising abortion under whatever guise should be vehemently resisted no matter the reason or pressure from international bodies. Every well-meaning Nigerian must rise up and be vocal in denouncing any attempt to legalise abortion in Nigeria. Abortion is anti-God. It is against our culture. We should not kill a soul we cannot create. An unborn child has a right to live.”

The Chaplain of the Knight of St. John's Catholic Church, Ibadan, Rev. Father Peter Odetoyinbo, corroborates Odigie's views. “Nigeria must be reminded of its religious heritage with respect to life and love for children,” he said.

Ms. Franca Ofili, a devout Catholic says she will keep the pregnancy if she finds herself in such a situation. Ofili said, “I am a Catholic. I will keep the pregnancy because of an experience I once witnessed.”

Ofili told a story of a woman who was raped by armed robbers while her husband was away from home. According to her, the woman waited for three months before deciding to abort the pregnancy. She added, “This was in a hospital where I once worked. When the woman came for abortion, it was three months after, and she died of complications arising from the illegal abortion.”

Abortion is illegal in Nigeria. It is only allowed under extreme case of saving the life of a woman at the point of death. A legal expert says abortion can only be conducted when a pregnant woman “is gasping for breath.” This implies that the woman's chances of survival are very slim.

But given the scenario above, is it not time that abortion was brought to the front-burner of national discourse? Is it not possible that provision should be made for special cases on the abortion law?

Gynecologists say the restrictive law has not stopped women, especially the married ones, from going for abortion. The Nigeria Health Review 2006 says that about 10,000 Nigerian women die annually due to abortion-related complications. This is out of the more than 610,000 abortions carried out annually in the country. The report says that many more women, who survive the complications, suffer permanent disabilities. The Nigeria Health Review says that many women “resort to clandestine and dangerous methods rather than evidence-based safer methods” to procure abortion.

According to the publication, this is to avoid the long arm of the law and the high cost of procuring abortion by qualified personnel. The report added, “Such methods include insertion of dangerous objects into the vagina like pins, bicycle spokes, candle sticks and coat hangers.” Others are “ingestion of harmful drugs and chemicals such as potash, codeine, laundry blue, turpentine, detergent, bleach and tea made from livestock faeces.” The publication says that quacks who resort to such methods cause damage to the uterus. “Worst hit are teenage girls, especially those in secondary schools,” it said.

It is against this background that the pro-choice advocates argue that Nigeria's law on abortion is unfair to the lives and health of women. They say that the law has reduced women to “replaceable baby factory machines” because it only approves abortion when a woman's life is threatened.

Hajia Ramatu Usman, President, National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) shares this view. Usman has called for the amendment of the over 100-year-old law to allow victims of rape and incest to go for medical procedure.

Pro-choice campaigners say that Britain has amended its legislation on abortion to suit the people. They, therefore, wonder why Nigeria should not amend its law since it is fashioned along the British legislation.

The 40th anniversary of the British law granting women access to safe abortion will be celebrated on October 27. Social commentators say as long as the seemingly endless controversy is allowed to continue, more women will die unnecessarily. Those who toe a middle line approach believe that there is need to keep an open mind on the issue of abortion in order find a lasting solution to deaths caused by unsafe abortion.
Nwosu & Ugoji write for News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).