Abortion in Nigeria

Abortion is a controversial topic in Nigeria. Abortion in Nigeria is governed by two laws that differ depending on geographical location. Northern Nigeria is governed by The Penal Code and southern Nigeria is governed by The Criminal Code. The only legal way to have an abortion in Nigeria is if having the child is going to put the mother’s life in danger.^[1] However, sex-selective abortion has long had acceptance in Nigeria.

ONE IN FOUR PREGNANCIES ARE UNINTENDED

On average, Nigerian women want 5.2 children, compared with the 5.5 children they are currently having.
Fourteen percent of all women aged 15–49 in Nigeria have an unmet need for family planning: They are married and/or sexually active and they want to space their births or stop childbearing, but are not using contraceptives. Among sexually active unmarried women, 22% have an unmet need.
In 2012, about one-fourth of Nigeria’s 9.2 million pregnancies were unintended —a rate of 59 unintended pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–49.
More than half (56%) of these unintended pregnancies ended in an induced abortion; 32% ended in an unplanned birth and 12% in a miscarriage.

UNSAFE ABORTION IS DANGEROUS AND COSTLY

Complications of unsafe abortion range from pain and bleeding to more serious conditions, including sepsis (systemic infection), pelvic infections and injury from instruments—and even death. About 40% of women undergoing abortion experience complications serious enough to require medical treatment.
Among women treated in Nigerian secondary and tertiary hospitals in 2012 for complications of pregnancy or delivery, almost 10% of “near-miss events”—cases in which women would have died had the health system not intervened— were estimated to be due to unsafe abortion.
In 2012, 212,000 women were treated in health facilities for complications of induced abortion. In addition, an estimated 285,000 women had complications from unsafe abortion serious enough to require treatment in health facilities, but did not obtain the care they needed.
Unsafe abortion places a serious burden on the nation’s health system as well on the health and well-being of women and their families. The economic burden is substantial: A Guttmacher study found that in 2005, postabortion care in Nigerian hospitals cost US$132 per patient, of which US$95 was paid by families.

Abortion and the law in Nigeria

Abortion in Nigeria 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 clandestine abortions continue to be carried out regularly, often with dire consequences for the lives and health of the women involved.
This article reviews abortion legislation in Nigeria, examines court decisions on the subject, and presents the results of a survey conducted on the incidence of abortion in the country.
A case is made for revising existing abortion laws. A brief look is taken at the various indications for abortion that might be adopted and a proposal is made for a new abortion policy in Nigeria in the light of the country’s recently adopted population policy.

Causes for abortion in Nigeria

Unwanted pregnancy is the leading cause for abortion in Nigeria. Unwanted pregnancies have many causes. Nigeria’s growing economy and increasing urbanization is making the price of living higher. This is making it more necessary for women to be working, as well as the men, to help support the family.
When there are more children it becomes harder for the women to focus on work because they are expected to take care of the family first, thus women would rather be working than pregnant or taking care of a child.
Another reason for the high rates of unwanted pregnancy in Nigeria is low contraceptive use and lack of family planning. Much of this is a result of lack of education on the use of contraceptives, as well as a lack of access to health care and contraceptive products in Nigeria. Due to the lack of contraceptive use, there is a trend of uneducated, young, childless women, and women with many children, who end up with unwanted pregnancies.
Both of these groups of women live in rural areas, where healthcare is spread out, hard to find, and government campaigns to help educate the public on family planning and contraceptives do not get as much advertisement.