| The Nigerian criminal jurisprudence unduly restricts abortion. Abortion is prohibited except when it is aimed at saving the woman's life. As a result, many women and girls resort to non-physician providers to procure abortion secretly. These procedures turn out to be unhygienic and unsafe. Studies reveal that there is high maternal mortality and morbidity in Nigeria as a result of these unsafe abortions. In reality, although highly restricted from the legal point of view, abortions, nevertheless, take place in large numbers in Nigeria. Every law is made to achieve an end; in a situation where that end is unachievable, the law has failed. Accordingly, the abortion regime in Nigeria has failed and deserves a thorough amendment to keep pace with modern realities. It is intended that this work will serve as part of the momentum that will lead to a liberalizing amendment to the present over restrictive abortion regime in Nigeria.;*This thesis was presented at the Workshop on "Issues in Women's Health: An Afternoon of Graduate Student Research" under the working title Legal Restrictions of Abortion in Nigeria: A Manmade Disaster to Women's Health on Thursday 23 May 2002 at The Centre for Research in Women's Health, 790 Bay Street, Toronto Canada. Website: . |
