The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) has kicked against the purported plan by the Federal Government to legalize abortion by reviewing some sections of the Criminal Code 1090 on abortion to ensure its decriminalisation. 

The abortion law in Nigeria states that abortion is illegal unless done to save the life of the mother.

Media reports alleged that the government is working to expand access to safe termination of pregnancies in the country.

However, CSN argued that rather than expanding access to safe termination of pregnancy by destroying life, the government should amplify its efforts towards educating the people on the imperatives of the values and dignity of the human person. 

Secretary General of CSN, Very Rev. Fr. Zacharia Nyantiso Samjum, insisted that instead of enthroning the culture of death through the legalisation of abortion, the government should place a premium on the sacred dignity and love that should be accorded to the human person, which is guaranteed by natural law and divine commandments and affirmed in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

Samjum said the alleged plan threatens the value and dignity of the human person, stressing that the move by the government contravenes the provisions of the Constitution, which prescribe absolute protection and respect of human life and its inherent dignity. 

He said, “For example, section 33 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, guarantees the right to life, stating that “every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.

“Chapter IV of the same Constitution outlines fundamental human rights, including the right to life, dignity, and freedom from discrimination, emphasising the importance of protecting human life and dignity.

“Not unconnected is the Bill at the National Assembly to regulate Surrogacy in Nigeria. Thus, the statement by the Health Promotion Department of the Federal Ministry of Health authenticates the fears of a potential assault on our extant values, beliefs, and cultural norms regarding shared values as a people.”

The cleric observed that the Catholic Church in Nigeria, through the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has consistently advocated for the protection of human life through its communiqués, teachings, and ecclesiastical documents.

He added that the Church maintains that any law that fails to respect the right to life and human dignity contradicts natural and divine laws.

Samjum noted that it is safer to have human dignity included in the curriculum than to work against it in the name of providing access, shrouded in the garb of human freedom. 

He said that “the more we know and value the dignity of the other person, the more society would seamlessly live in peace and harmony.”

The Head of the Health Promotion Department of the Federal Ministry of Health, Barrister Nma Ogbonna at a recent  Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) summit 1.0 organised by the Media Health & Rights (MHR) Initiative of Nigeria was quoted to have said that the federal government is working towards expanding access to safe termination of pregnancies in the country. 

Samjum said, “Ogbonna’s pronouncement on behalf of the Federal Government substantiated the fears already created by the government’s various preceding moves to enshrine post-modern secularistic ideologies that significantly undermine the cultural, moral, and religious beliefs of Nigerian citizens.”