UNDERSTANDING ABORTION AS A POLICY ISSUE: THE FEMINIST NARATIVE

UNDERSTANDING ABORTION AS A POLICY ISSUE: THE FEMINIST NARATIVE: Around the world including Nigeria, abortion continues to remain restricted, clandestine, stigmatized, and unsafe for thousands of women. In 2017, according to research, the annual incidence rate of abortions in Nigeria was 41.8 per 1,000 women aged 15-49 – nearly 1.8 million abortions. More than six out of 10 abortions were considered unsafe, and 11 percent of women experienced complications for which they sought post abortion care at health care facilitiesi.

In 2022 the Lagos Ministry of Health launched a policy guideline on the provision of safe abortion that focused on reduction of preventable deaths caused by unsafe procedures as well as to guide health care providers to provide safe abortion serviceii under legal indications. Such supportive policies and financial commitments to provide comprehensive SRHR information and services including access to safe abortion are key for preventing unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortionsiii. Reducing deaths and injuries related to unsafe abortion requires a policy environment that supports equitable access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)—including contraceptioniv,safe abortion, and postabortion care for all people.

Unfortunately, the Lagos policy guideline did not see the light of the day, it was suspended due to the anti -choice arguments. The Federal Ministry of Health had previously developed and disseminated the national guidelines on safe termination of pregnancy which highlighted the compendium of conditions and circumstances under which termination of pregnancy could be institutedv. These policies are necessary to save the lives of women and improve their health and wellbeing. In spite the Sustainable Development Goals agreed by the world’s governments

at the United Nations in September 2015, which include a target of universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, and the regional such as Maputo Protocol, and the Maputo Plan of Action on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, abortion is still restricted by law which is one of the major forces that l heighten challenges that affect women who need service adversely . Since the overturn of the United States Supreme Court decision to overturn the right to abortion, it has trickledown effect on policies in Nigeria, such as the suspension of the Lagos State Policy Guideline on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications. This guideline, if re-instated will give people more flexibility for accessing safe abortion with a clear national protocol to health care providers thereby preventing unnecessary harm to women’s health.

These rollbacks have symbolic impact on women’s lives and have made access to abortion difficult. As we know, United States of America is an important player in global health in the international arena, the Dobb’s decision is a strong set back. The African region looks upon the international communities for guidance and this strategy of using the courts to limit abortion rights is a gross violation of women’s human rights and can spread across our countries.

We must mobilize to resist and end oppressive or unjust laws and health inequity. To progress, Lagos State should re-instate the Guideline for Safe Termination of Pregnancy on Legal Indications and other states need to adopt the guideline i because access to women’s reproductive health including safe and legal abortion must be recognized as a human right.

Human rights belong to all simply because they are human beings. The reproductive and sexual health rights of women are grounded in the twelve core International Human Rights’ Instruments which include: the right to participation, right to health, right to choice, right to

life, right to freedom of thought , right to privacy, right to information and education, right to choose whether or not to marry and to found and plan a family , right to decide whether or when to have children, right to health care and health protection, right to the basic scientific progress , right to freedom of assembly, right to be free from torture and ill treatment and right to equality and to be free from all forms of discrimination. Any violation of these rights is infringing on the Fundamental Human Rights of Women.

The decision to have an abortion is a decision rooted in compassion, in love, in self-worth, in a belief, and optimism for the future.

i

E Omoluabu. (2017) PMA 2020 Abortion Survey Results: Nigeria. Survey conducted by the Performance Monitoring and Accountability (PMA2020) in collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. https://www.pma2020.org/sites/default/files/AbortionModule_Brief_111518.pdf. (accessed 29 September 2018) ii

The Cable (2022),Lagos Unveils New Policy Guidelines on Safe Abortions ’To Reduce Preventable deaths’’ https://www.thecable.ng/lagos-unveils-new-policy-guidelines-on-safe-abortions-to-reduce-preventable-deaths iii

Safe Engage : (2021 ) A POLICY COMMUNICATION GUIDE https://www.prb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/worksheet-safe-engage-policy-guide-en.pdf iv Safe Engage : (2021 ) A POLICY COMMUNICATION GUIDE v Royal Ibe in The leader, Lagos Releases Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy https://leadership.ng/lagos-releases-guidelines-on-safe-termination-of-pregnancy/