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Angela Onwuzoo
About 150 women’s rights and civil society organisations have urged the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to lift the suspension of the “State Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications” issued by the Directorate of Family Health and Nutrition in the Ministry of Health.
The women groups accused the governor of suspending the guidelines for political reasons, noting that the state government was being blackmailed with religious sentiments.
Recall that the Lagos state governor had on July 8, 2022, directed the suspension of the “State Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications” issued by the Directorate of Family Health and Nutrition in the Ministry of Health.
Sanwo-Olu had said that the new guidelines would not be implemented until adequate deliberation.
Before that, the Lagos State Government had on June 29, 2022 presented and launched the 40-page policy document titled ‘Lagos State Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indicators’ to set out guidelines for safe termination of pregnancy within the ambit of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
However, making the call on the Lagos state governor at a press briefing organised by the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre on Friday, the women groups said 10 per cent of the global maternal death rate comes from unsafe abortions in Nigeria, making it the second leading cause of maternal mortality in the country.
Speaking on behalf of the women groups and CSOs, Executive Director of WARDC, Dr. Abiola Akiyode -Afolabi, noted that the guidelines seek to save women from preventable deaths.
In a call to action statement signed on behalf of the groups, Dr. Akiyode -Afolabi said unsafe abortion accounts for a high number of maternal deaths in Nigeria.
She said, “10 per cent of global maternal death rate comes from unsafe abortions in Nigeria, making it the second leading cause of maternal mortality in the country.
“This is a neglected major area of preventable maternal deaths due to provisions of Nigerian Abortion Laws.
“We, therefore, call on the Lagos State Government to immediately lift the suspension on the guidelines.
“We believe that the state government is being blackmailed by religious sentiments. Women have a right to their bodily integrity and life. What the guidelines are pushing for is for us to save women from a good preventable death.
“The suspension on the Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications should immediately be lifted.”
The civil rights activist said Nigeria was yet to reform its restrictive domestic laws and policies that place women and girls’ health and lives at risk and prevent them from exercising their reproductive rights which the Nigerian government has been committed to under international law.
Giving insight into why the guidelines are crucial, the legal practitioner said, “In 2017, 212,000 women out of two million annually estimated to have had abortions were treated for complications while 285,000 never received treatments for the severe health consequences they faced.
“Nigeria is obligated to implement 2030 Global Sustainable Development Goals agreed by world governments at the United Nations in September 2015, with a target of universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services.”
“The current abortion law in Nigeria was instituted by the British Offences Against Persons Act, Section 58, in the 19th century and has not been repealed or amended.
“In 2011, the Lagos State House of Assembly amended its Criminal Code to Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011 which has four relevant sections on abortion.
“Sections 145 provides for attempts to procure abortion, 146 provides for attempts to procure own’s miscarriage, 147 provides for supplying drugs and instruments to procure abortions and 201 provides for medical abortion.”
According to her, the Lagos State Guideline on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications is modeled after the National Guidelines for Legal Indications (2018) prepared by the Federal Ministry of Health.
The guidelines she reiterated are to guide medical practitioners and other stakeholders on when it is lawful or unlawful to do any acts qualified by the use of the word “unlawful” in sections 145,146,147 and 201.
“A person cannot be arrested for a medical abortion validated by Section 201 of Criminal Law of Lagos State.
“This provision expands the scope of the law beyond the scope of the law under the repealed Criminal Code.
“The new law provides two lawful grounds for which abortion can be carried out: preservation of a mother’s life and preservation of a woman’s physical health,” she explained.
Dr. Akiyode -Afolabi stated that the reduction of unsafe abortions as a strategy for improving maternal health and reducing the alarming rate of deaths is crucial.
Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate is 512 per 100,000 live births, according to the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.
The World Health Organisation also said a Nigerian woman has a one-in-22 lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum/post-abortion; whereas in developed countries, the lifetime risk is one in 4,900.
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