Sept 28, 2023
by Claire Mom
Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation has asked lawmakers to review restrictive abortion laws in the country that continue to endanger the lives of young girls and women.
In a statement released on Thursday to mark the “International Safe Abortion Day”, Ipas noted that unsafe abortions contribute between 13% and 30% to maternal mortality in Nigeria.
26 SEPTEMBER 2023
Nigeria Health Watch (Abuja)
By Onyedikachi Ewe
Contraceptive choices are crucial in empowering women and couples to take control of their reproductive health. In addition to protecting women and girls from unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions, contraceptive use promotes the overall well-being of the mother, child, and family. However, despite awareness of family planning, there is still a high unmet need at 48% for sexually active unmarried women and 19% for married women. In addition, the modern contraceptive prevalence rate is still low at 12% among married women (15-49 years) which is at a negative variance with the national target of 27% by the year 2024.
The Power of Options in improving the quality of a woman's life cannot be overemphasised. It resonates with the wide range of contraceptive choices that should be made available to women and girls to help them make an informed choice. The power and autonomy of a woman to have children when she desires, at what interval and the number exemplifies gender equality.
A study by Doctors Without Borders and others warns of the proliferation of complications suffered by women following a terminated pregnancy in conflict-affected regions
MONICAH MWANGI, BEATRIZ LECUMBERRI, (REUTERS)
SEP 11, 2023
“I arrived at a hospital in Bangui and a 25-year-old woman had just died in my colleagues’ arms from complications following an abortion,” says Estelle Pasquier, a researcher with Doctors Without Borders (MSF). “This can happen several times a month, but it is a preventable death with the right measures. The doctors there have their hands tied by legal and social impediments, but the vast majority consider that the healthcare in these circumstances is a right for all women because they see the damage wreaked on a daily basis when that right is ignored.” What Pasquier is describing prompted a pioneering study, of which she is co-author, on the complications suffered by women after abortion in particularly volatile regions of sub-Saharan Africa, a corner of the world where 70% of deaths related in some way to maternity occur.
Posted 6 Sep 2023
Reliefweb
A study of two hospitals in conflict-affected settings finds patients at significantly higher risk of developing severe complications resulting from unsafe abortions.
Unsafe abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the world, with over 20,000 people dying each year due to related complications. In fragile or conflict-affected settings, the complications resulting from unsafe abortion are up to seven times more severe.
Continued: https://reliefweb.int/report/central-african-republic/five-takeaways-msfs-study-unsafe-abortions
5 September 2023
Médecins Sans Frontières
Complications following unsafe abortions are up to seven times more severe in fragile or conflict-affected settings: these are the findings of one of the very first studies on the subject, carried out in two referral hospitals in Bangui in the Central African Republic and Jigawa State in northern Nigeria. Behind the statistics, real stories of real women – and a universal vulnerability.
“I was distraught. I had drunk the traditional medicine. Before that, someone had shown me how to insert a piece of iron into my vagina... It was a piece of iron like this [she shows the interviewer the size],” says Rasha*, a 32-year-old woman admitted to Bangui referral hospital with potentially life-threatening abortion-related complications.
Continued: https://www.msf.org/abortion-women-more-risk-death-fragile-and-conflict-affected-settings
by Sade Oguntola
August 31, 2023
INDUCED abortion is illegal in Nigeria, except when performed to save a woman’s life. Both the penal code, which is generally applied in the country’s northern states, and the criminal code, which generally applies in the southern states, allow this exception and the regions specify similar criminal penalties for noncompliance.
Yet, pregnancy terminations are quite common and because they are often performed clandestinely or by unskilled providers, they are sometimes unsafe. A recent survey indicated that unintended pregnancy and abortion are experienced by women worldwide.
Continued: https://tribuneonlineng.com/how-preventing-unwanted-pregnancies-can-reduce-abortion-deaths-experts/
By Olubunmi Osoteku, Ikeja
On Aug 26, 2023
Some Public health experts, including scholars and researchers, have decried the high rate of death resulting from unsafe abortion, especially among adolescents, in Nigeria and urged government to increase investment in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SHR).
The experts, who agreed that the lives of women and girls, aged 15-49, lost daily to abortion is worth more than the amount of funding required to provide the needed facilities and services to keep them alive, argued that comprehensive sexuality education should be provided for adolescents.
Continued: https://von.gov.ng/abortion-public-health-expert-decries-high-death-rate/
IPAS
July 21, 2023
Ipas is pleased to announce a partnership with the government of Canada to increase access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care for women and girls in Bolivia, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Canadian government has pledged $10 million CAD for programmatic work in Bolivia, Indonesia and Nigeria to increase the sexual and reproductive autonomy of women and girls by expanding their access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and enhancing their ability to make decisions about their own sexual and reproductive health.
By Wildest_Imagination (self media writer)
July 8, 2023
Abortion is a highly controversial and sensitive topic that sparks debates and discussions worldwide. Nigeria, like many countries, has strict laws regarding abortion, considering it a criminal offense except in cases where the life of the mother is at risk. This article aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the punishment for abortion in Nigeria, exploring the legal framework, societal implications, and challenges faced by women seeking reproductive healthcare services. By shedding light on this subject, we hope to promote informed discussions and increase awareness of women's reproductive rights and healthcare needs.
The Legal Framework
The laws governing abortion in Nigeria are primarily derived from the Penal Code applicable in the northern states and the Criminal Code applicable in the southern states. These laws classify abortion as a criminal act, except when performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. In accordance with the Penal Code, anyone who causes an abortion, whether by providing the procedure or assisting in any way, is subject to imprisonment. The Criminal Code imposes similar penalties, effectively making abortion a punishable offense under Nigerian law.
Continued: https://ng.opera.news/ng/en/politics/62d27ff7c300f32a909aeecea6ae4bab
Most women who took abortion drugs were successful even at later gestation periods, researchers reported. Many used only misoprostol, not the usual two-drug combination.
By Roni Caryn Rabin
July 6, 2023
An overwhelming majority of women were able to end unwanted pregnancies with abortion medications on their own and without additional medical procedures, even if they were well beyond the first trimester, according to a report published on Thursday.
The study was based on the experiences of 264 women who were nine to 16 weeks pregnant in Argentina, Nigeria and an unnamed country in Southeast Asia where abortion is illegal. Almost half of the women took only one drug, misoprostol, instead of the standard two-drug regimen, mifepristone and misoprostol.
Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/health/abortion-misoprostol.html
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