Online Published on 03 August, 2022.
This paper represents a contribution to the literature on abortion regulation in Nigeria by specifically advocating legal reform in order to liberalise access to abortion services. Presently, abortion can be performed only to save the life of a mother. However, restricting access to abortion services, other than in cases of the endangerment of maternal health, has led to an increase in maternal mortality. A prohibitory regime is counter-productive because women who seek abortion, but cannot legally access it, resort to backstreet abortion clinics, with attendant risks. Although the Nigerian abortion law was derived several decades ago from England and Queensland in Australia, it has not undergone any review, unlike the laws of these jurisdictions. The author argues that a reform is imperative to bring the legal regime in tandem with the realities in the country.
