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Nabila Hamidu

Chioma Lawrence

Firdaws Yahaya,

Vanessa Yashim,

Tamunobereni Omuku.

Dr. Agatha Ukata

Section One

18/11/2019

Should Abortion be Legalized in Nigeria?

Should Abortion be Legalized in Nigeria?

Today, abortion is the most controversial topic that can be posed to an audience. The

question of the legality or even the moral justification of abortion rises different arguments from

different individuals. From those who agree that abortion should be legalized to individuals who

believe abortion is a form of murder as the fetus is a human being. Thus, it is important to ask:

what is abortion? Abortion is the deliberate termination of pregnancy within 28 weeks usually

due personal reasons or medical reasons. Throughout history it has been debated on morality of

abortion, should it be legalized? Is it right? Is it wrong? Hence, this paper seeks to examine the

proposing and opposing argument of whether abortion should be legalized in Nigeria. This paper

will take an objective stance on the issue of abortion by stating the arguments posed by each side

but also aims to reach a middle ground, by stating cases in which abortion should or should not be

legalized.

Pro Choice

Abortion will continue to be a discordant issue fronting our country today. Supporters of

abortion will usually describe themselves as being strictly pro-choice, that is they support a

female’s right to make decisions about her body while there are others that are pro-life, believe

the motion that a fetus is human, therefore, aborting a fetus is murder. Lastly, they are also

individuals who are ‘on the fence’ and give room for compromise. However, this part of the paper

is going to give detailed discussion on pro-choice.

Firstly, women should have the right to do whatever they please with their bodies and this

includes having an abortion. Today, the society today tries to decide and define what they believe

is best for woman including what they are meant to do with their bodies irrespective of the

consequence it has on their lives. Women are already battling for equal rights with their counter

parts, now they are forced to choose between what society deems right and what is best for them.

In order for women to be empowered, society needs to realize that it is not only justifiable for a

woman to abort a fetus in only cases where she is a victim of rape but that abortion is a life

circumstance that is not as plain and simple as it seems

In addition, reproductive choice empowers women by giving them power over their own

bodies (ProCon.org). The decision to whether and when to have babies solely rests on the

woman’s liberation and capability to decide her future. In the case of Planned Parenthood v.

Casey, Sandra Day O’Connor, the former Supreme Court justice, decided that “a woman’s ability

to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their

ability to control their reproductive lives (ProCon.org).” Every woman has the fundamental right

to decide on what is crucial for their physical and mental well-being and this should not be altered

by someone’s religious or moral belief.

Next, personhood begins after a fetus becomes “viable” not at conception. Whereas, pro-

life supporters believe that life starts at conception and it is an act of murder to terminate a baby.

An embryo and fetus are dependent and self-determining. Meaning, in a case of an abortion they

‘baby’ is not a baby yet but a fetus because it is terminated before the 26th week of pregnancy

when the cortex becomes functional (ProCon.org). Also, fetuses are unable to feel pain when

abortions are carried out because they are not biologically developed to experience pain.

According to Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and gynecologists, “most neuroscientists

believe that the cortex is necessary for pain perception” and the cortex is not present until the

26th- 30th week of gestation. Also, abortion is of an advantage because it gives women the choice

to choose not to bring an embryo with intense abnormalities to life. Some fetuses have severe

diseases such as down syndrome, anencephaly, etc. These severe diseases cut their life span short

or in most cases leads to death few days after birth, so why does the mother have to go through

nine months of pain and stress when her child will die not far-fetched from delivery day. Mother’s

should have the right to decide what to do their babies because ultimately the death of the baby

leads to their mental and emotional distress.

Lastly, Abortion serves as a means of population control. A popular argument in support

of abortion is the overpopulation of the world which is currently unsustainable and is a factor

contributing to environmental, social and economic problems (charity). Abortion helps to reduce

a number of unwanted babies and less privileged in the world. Subsequently, the United Nations

projected that the world’s population will increase to 9.3 billion by 2050 (ProCon.org). This will

lead to a rapid increase in malnutrition, poverty, starvation, etc. because of pro-life supporters that

are judging the situation based on religion and not logic.

Pro Life

As abortion is not as plain and simple as it seems, pro-life activists pose the question that:

why do people believe that a fetus or embryo has no life? Why is it deemed right to kill a fetus

because it is not human? This part of the essay will answer the aforementioned questions by

stating the opposing argument against the legalization of abortion.

Firstly, abortion leads to a high risk of damage organs, infections, over bleeding and at

times results in death. For example, in Nigeria, some people argue that because abortion is not

legal, that is why women suffer complications after abortion. Regardless, looking at developed
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countries where abortion is legalized, they are still faced with similar issues. Some of the issues

include patients having serious complications after the abortion process, abortion puts the life of

mother and fetus at stake. Sometimes, individual contact germs which infect their cervix and

uterus during the abortion problems (Ramah). Women are definitely at risk when they carry out

abortion, and it is better to avoid these risks to save your life.

Secondly, a lot of women suffer Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS) after going through

abortion, some feel lonely and guilty after the embryo have been removed from their womb, and

this can make them paranoid like hearing babies cries etc. They create different types of

mechanisms to defend their reason for aborting the fetus, but if it is right will they have to

validate themselves? Furthermore, research has also proven that abortion increases the risk of

mental problems. For example, most women who abort their babies experience anxiety and

depression which pushes them to committing suicide or indulging in drug abuse and drinking

(simon).

Thirdly, we have been made to know that a woman who has committed abortion has a

high possibility to get breast cancer. Every woman when pregnant, experience hormonal changes

because the body is preparing for a baby. If the woman performs an abortion, there will be a

disturbance in the hormonal changes which can cause a lump to start growing in the breast and

may lead to handicapped newborn in future pregnancies (simon).

Finally, among the questions posed in the beginning of the essay of why individuals

believe that a fetus is not a human being will be answered. It is sad that a lot of educated people

still argue that a fetus is not a human being. As long as there has been fertilization of the eggs by

the sperm, whatever that is growing inside a woman’s womb is a human being because it has
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rights gotten from conception (Child Right Act). Every child no matter how it was formed, has

the right to live and experience the world.

Abortion, no matter the reason is wrong. The after effects of abortion will forever scar an

individual’s life. Therefore, abortion the government should to take charge by creating laws

against abortion and punishing anyone that breaks the law because abortion still affect the

society’s growth.

Middle Ground

This part of the paper will look at abortion from both perspectives: those against it and

those in support of it, it can be said that reasons given by the two parties are very valid. The

legalization of abortion can bring about abortion being used as a form of contraceptive and can

also lead to a mass increase in the rate of abortion being done. On the other hand, making it illegal

can serve as a major health risk to those who do it and the number of unwanted kids brought into

this world. This then brings up the question on how these two opposite views can be brought into

the balance.

This can be made possible by placing restriction on abortion. In 1989, when the U.S

Supreme Court wanted to expand its abortion law, they did it on the basis that regulating the

abortion law should not bring about “undue burden” on the woman wanting to do the abortion (H

482).In some country like New Zealand, abortion is restricted to a gestational limit of 20 weeks

and in Ireland, a gestational limit of 12 weeks (miller). In Nigeria, a woman is only allowed to

have an abortion if the pregnancy has a risk on her health. Based on a report by Women on

Waves, about 25% of the world's population live in countries with high "restrictive abortion laws”

meaning, laws which either completely ban abortion, or allow it only for a specific instance like

when the mother’s life is at risk and with such restriction, we see a larger population of women in
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those countries seeking illegal abortion with is attached with greater risks. Nigeria’s abortion law

was put in place in February 1988 and hasn’t been changed since then (Okagbue). For the

legalization of abortion, restrictive laws should be enforced and implemented so as to avoid the

high number of illegal abortions practiced every day. Policies should be set in place to ensure that

they are proper and safer abortion methods. There should be also be an amendment in Nigeria’s

abortion law so it can match up with the society today and most importantly there should be a

broadening of the abortion restriction.

Furthermore, there are a lot of legal grounds for abortion but Nigeria limits it to the life

exception. Some of these legal grounds that can be looked at include Health Exceptions, Broad

Social or Economic Grounds, On Request (gestational limit), Rape and Incest Exceptions, Fetal

Viability and damage. Broadening the abortion restriction limit to include other acceptable ones

that fit the local context of Nigeria is sure to reduce the number of people getting illegal abortion

(rights).

Conclusion

Moreover, this paper examined arguments posed by each side and ultimately reached a

middle ground of cases in which both sides can be happy. While, remaining objective both

arguments were posed and a feasible solution was proffered in which both sides would come out

happy. Thus, the question of if abortion should be legalized in Nigeria is up to you, the reader. As

a member of the society you have to decide whether abortion should or should not be legalized or

should it not be legalized but abortion laws should be reviewed and amended? That decision is at

the end of the day, is left to you and your conscious. The aim of the paper was to give all the

information of both sides and not to be a catalyst of change.

Works cited

Charity, Life. Abortion. 02 December 2016. website. 15 November 2019.

H, Medoff. "The Determinants and Impact of State Abortion Restrictions." The American Journal

of Economics and Sociology 2002: 482. JSTOR. <www.jstor.org/stable/3487791>.

Miller, Erica. http://theconversation.com/heres-why-there-should-be-no-gestational-limits-for-

abortion-121500. 12 August 2019. website.

Okagbue, I. Pregnancy termination and the law in Nigeria. Review. University of Lagos. Lagos:

Stud Fam Plann, 1990. website.

ProCon.org. "Abortion." 05 September 2019. ProCon.org.n.d. abortion.procon.org/. 16 November

2019.

Ramah, Dr. "Ramah International." n.d. https://ramahinternational.org/abortion-risks-dangers/. 16

11 2019.

Rights, Center for reproductive. https://reproductiverights.org/worldabortionlaws. 2019. website.

Simon, jareed. "Causes and Effects of Abortion." 2018. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/social-

policy/abortion-termination-pregnancy.php#. 16 November 2019.

Staff, HLI. "Human Life International." 1 June 2016. https://www.hli.org/2016/06/risks-of-

abortion/. 16 November 2019.