150 women groups seek reinstatement of safe abortion guidelines in Lagos

No fewer than 150 women groups and civil society organisations have called on the Lagos State Government to reinstate the Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indication which provide for safe abortions for victims of rape and incest.

It would be recalled that the Lagos State Government in June 2022 issued the guidelines to save women from preventable deaths but the implementation was suspended by July of the same year.

At a virtual press conference yesterday, the board member of the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, decried the high rate of rape and incest in society thereby denying women of their sexual and reproductive rights.

“As of today, Benin Republic allows for safe abortion in circumstances of incest and rape. Abortion in circumstances of physical and mental health is not unlawful.

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“Every day people are getting pregnant when they cannot take care of the child,” the human rights lawyer said.

At the webinar, Akiyode-Afolabi also launched a petition to demand the reinstatement of the guidelines.

She stated that in 2017 alone, 212,000 women out of an estimated two million annually who had abortions sought treatment for complications, while 285,000 did not receive the necessary care for the severe health consequences they faced.