Women's Groups March To Lagos State Government House Urging Lift of Suspended Abortion Guidelines
Over 700 women took to the Lagos State Government House urging Governor Sanwo-Olu to lift the suspension of the Lagos State Guidelines on Safe termination of pregnancy.
The march, led by Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, demanded that the government obey the section of the Law protecting pregnant women.
A statement released by one of the protesters, Wura Abulatan, noted the guidelines refer to a standardised guide for safe termination of pregnancy in Lagos.
In June, The Lagos State Government launched guidelines for developing safe and lawful abortion services within the ambit of the state’s criminal law. A month later, the guidelines were suspended for no reason, thereby making access to abortion services much harder for women.
In Nigeria, abortion is illegal, with a punishment of 14 years in prison.
Under the Criminal Code, applicable to Southern Nigeria, Section 228 states that any doctor providing a miscarriage to a woman is guilty of a felony and up to 14 years of imprisonment. in cases where the unborn child's mother in danger. Section 229 states that any woman obtaining a miscarriage is guilty of a felony and may be sentenced to imprisonment for up to 7 years.
Section 230 states that anyone supplying anything intended for a woman's miscarriage is also guilty of a felony and maybe sentenced to up to 3 years of imprisonment.
In the Penal Code applicable to Northern Nigeria, the abortion laws are contained in sections 232, 233 and 234. The laws in it run parallel to those in the Criminal Code, besides the exception for abortion to save the life of the mother. The Penal Code's punishments include imprisonment, fine, or both.
Commenting on the state of poor safe abortion services in Nigeria, Ms Abulatan said, "Our lives and health shouldn't be left hanging".
In 2015, Guttmacher Institute reported that each year over 1,000,000 abortions occur in Nigeria, representing about 33 abortions per 1,000 women between ages 15-49. In this report, about 212,000 women had to be treated for complications from unsafe abortions.
It was asserted that illegal abortion is responsible for about 11 per cent of maternal deaths in Nigeria, and 50 per cent of such deaths involve adolescents and young women.
In 2018, Performance Monitoring and Accountability conducted a survey to produce updated numbers on abortions and abortion-related indicators. They spoke to 11, 106 women aged between 15-49, asking questions about abortions and period regulations.
The annual number of likely abortions reached from this survey by respondents were 1,773,067 and 2,696, 270 from close confidantes. More than 6 out of 10 abortions were consideredthe least safe. The least safe abortion incidence was highest among women in rural areas, without proper education and from low-income households.