The Catholic Church has called on the Governor of the Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to stop the implementation of the guidelines for the termination of pregnancy in the state.
Recall that the Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Health recently unveiled a policy document on safe termination of pregnancy.
The 40-page policy document, tagged “Lagos State Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications”, sets out guidelines for safe termination of pregnancy within the ambit of the criminal law of Lagos State.
Presenting and launching the document at a stakeholders’ engagement, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, explained that while therapeutic termination of pregnancy is permissible under the law in Lagos State.
He noted that the policy document was borne out of the need to provide evidence-based data and information for health workers in public and private sectors who have the requisite skills and training necessary to provide safe terminations to reduce preventable deaths.
However, the church said the argument by the Lagos State Ministry of Health was not only unjustifiable but also unacceptable, adding that the guidelines were nothing but ways of creating room for indiscriminate abortion.
In a statement by the Director of Social Communications, Lagos Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, on Sunday, July 03, 2022, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Adewale Martins, while rejecting the guidelines said it was untrue that all stakeholders were consulted in the guidelines’ preparation process.
The statement quoted Martins as saying, “The Catholic Church and all ethically-minded people oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to terminate the life of a baby in the womb.
“The unborn child has the right to live and be protected and not to be killed by the fiat of an unjust law.
“We believe strongly that every human life must be respected and protected especially the most vulnerable ones in the womb from the moment of their conception.
“There is nothing like an unwanted child because every child is a gift from God that should be nurtured and allowed to grow in fulfillment of their purpose in life.
“We need to continue to explore ways of providing support for those women who find themselves in difficulty as a result of their pregnancy rather than thinking of aborting a child who is innocent of the difficulty that the mother may be going through.
“Any attempt to terminate the life of the unborn child is tantamount to murder and should be treated as a capital offence. Our focus, therefore, should be on proper enlightenment on human sexuality and collaboration in order to support women who get pregnant without being ready for the pregnancy.”
He wondered why the Lagos State Government seemed anxious to legalise abortion at a time when even the US and other more advanced countries were reviewing their positions on the legalisation of abortion as seen in the recent judgement of the Supreme Court of the United States of America on the matter.
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