NRHJN charges Sanwo-Olu to commence enlightenment on safe, legal abortion in Lagos

L-R: Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the State Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi 

By Sola Charles

IN the wake of the suspension of the Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications in Lagos State, the Network of Reproductive Health Journalists of Nigeria, NRHJN, has called on Governor BabajideSanwo-Olu to empower the State’s Ministry of Health to commence an immediate enlightenment program on the relevance and importance of the guidelines in the management and care of women and girls of reproductive age in the state.

The  NRHJN, a media advocacy group on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, urged the State government through its Ministry of Health, not to allow the guidelines to become moribund or extinct as a result of the suspension.
In an open letter signed by its President, Yinka Shokunbi, and National Secretary, Sekinat Lawal, the Network commended the State Government for coming up with the guidelines, even as it argued that no woman should lose her life or compromise her physical or mental health from preventable conditions while trying to bring another life to being.
“We members of the Network of Reproductive Health Journalists of Nigeria, are urging the Lagos State government through the  State Ministry of Health, not to allow the guidelines to become moribund or extinct from its suspension.
“The Governor should direct the State Commissioner for Health to immediately initiate strategies and plans to re-train and equip the health care providers in the public and private sectors with the relevant skills and resources to carry out their roles as contained in the guidelines.”
The Network opined: “A guideline such as the one launched by Lagos State on safe termination of pregnancy for legal indications is most welcome at this time because it is not for use by everybody but only for medical practitioners in the business of reproductive health of women and girls.
“We also urge the Lagos State Ministry of Health to give adequate reference to the National guidelines on safe termination of pregnancy for legal indications that were similarly released and launched in 2018 during the tenure of former Health Minister, Professor Isaac Folorunsho Adewole.”
Further, the Network admonished stakeholders in the State to be availed with copies of the State Guidelines so as to be informed of the content and be properly guided on its application.
“As media stakeholders and reproductive health writers, we were excited at the launch of the policy document which gives the needed teeth to the safely engage initiative which the state launched in 2018.
It was in 2011 that the State reviewed the Criminal Code and replaced it with the Criminal Law, and has since then, operated with the backing of that Law.
Quoting the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Professor Ayo Atsenuwa,  who is the Senior Legal Consultant in the Policy Documentation,  the Network noted that missing in Lagos State since 2011, had been the policy guidelines to the relevant sections of the Criminal  Law that could guide service providers (medical doctors) in the medical care and treatment of patients.
Atsenuwa said the document is meant to help guide the medical service providers in Lagos State on how to recognize a pregnancy needing medical intervention for termination.

"The goal of the document is to serve as a tool for the provision of safe termination of pregnancy within the legal framework in circumstances whereby the continuation of such pregnancy threatens the life or physical and/or mental health of the woman thereby contributing to the reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality in Lagos State, and by extension, in Nigeria at large".