Àjose Nigeria has urged religious leaders and churches across the country to embrace compassion as a critical tool in addressing Nigeria’s maternal health challenges, saying supporting access to life-saving healthcare for women facing high-risk pregnancies should not be misconstrued as endorsing abortion.
The call comes against the backdrop of Nigeria’s high burden of unsafe abortions and maternal deaths. According to available statistics, the country records about 33 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age. In Lagos, a study by the public health organisation, Campaign Against Unwanted Pregnancy, CAUP, found that 52 per cent of maternal deaths were linked to unsafe abortions.
Data also show that unsafe abortions account for about 11 per cent of maternal deaths nationwide, with adolescents and young women accounting for about half of such fatalities.
Globally, the World Health Organisation, WHO, and the United Nations advocate improved access to safe abortion services, citing public health and human rights considerations.
Therefore, Ajose maintained that ensuring women have access to accurate medical information does not amount to abandoning Christian convictions, adding that efforts to reduce preventable maternal deaths do not diminish the value Christians place on unborn life.
