Roe v Wade: A Nigerian perspective

Advocates of abortion in the United States are preparing for a showdown with the government after it emerged the Supreme Court would overturn a judgment, Roe v Wade, that legalized abortion on 22 January 1973.

What is Roe v Wade?

Roe v Wade refers to a ruling by the US Supreme Court that a set of Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a woman’s constitutional right to privacy, which is found to be implicit in the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (“…nor shall any state deprive any person of life. Liberty or property without due process of law”) of the United States constitution.

What happened in Roe v Wade?

The case began in 1970 when “Jane Roe”—a fictional name used to protect the identity of the plaintiff, Norma McCorvey (1947–2017)—instituted federal action against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas, where she resided. The Supreme Court disagreed with Roe’s assertion of an absolute right to terminate pregnancy in any way and at any time and attempted to balance a woman’s right to privacy with a state’s interest in regulating abortion.

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When was Roe v Wade passed?

The majority (a 7-2 victory) was written by Justice Harry A. Blackmun on 22 January 1973.

The Nigerian perspective

So now you have an idea of the origin of ‘Roe v Wade’. Simply put, Roe was pro-abortion while Wade was anti-abortion. To be sure that we are on the same page, I will define abortion. Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy.

The United States has always been a secular state, liberal in many ways. It’s no wonder many people from every part of the world seek refuge in the country. The guarantee of living freely has never been in doubt. It is the land of plenty – careers, jobs, entertainment, cultures, races, and anything you can think of, including freedom.

What the law says

Abortion in Nigeria is illegal and carries a heavy jail sentence–up to 14 years imprisonment–unless it is performed to save the pregnant woman’s life. The word cannot even be used in different contexts without causing eyebrows to be raised, hairs and feathers ruffled and eyes brightly lit. It is believed that recklessness is the primary cause of procuring an abortion. Nothing says wayward in Nigeria more than the need to get an abortion.

Although abortion is still done in secret in Nigeria, it is perceived as a more dangerous ‘trade’ than selling drugs by many. The latter is sold in known drug dens and even clubs across the country, but abortion is only done after several affirmations, background checks, investigations, and other thorough checks of a person’s real mission have been done.

Discussions, agreements and payments for abortion are made ‘codedly’ to avoid law enforcement. In most cases, people convinced of the rogue medical practitioners’ acumen are responsible for introducing customers. It is the black market!

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Religion

Nigeria’s religious belief that children are a gift from God may be the problem here. For instance, a man and woman, who live in a one-room apartment, have seven children between the ages of one and nine. The woman is pregnant again but must never think of getting an abortion. Why? She will be seen as a wayward housewife who probably does not know the father of her child.

So she must add to her growing’ basketball team’. In other secular countries, where abortion is legal, the couple may not have had more than three children. The man’s accidental discharge and ability to shoot without missing and Nigeria’s disapproval of abortion have led to his problems.

Although they shy away from matters relating to abortion and sex, many religious leaders have described the former as murder. ‘You’re simply killing an innocent child,’ many of them have said. It is only a wayward person that gets pregnant ‘mistakenly’…come to think of it, it’s not like accidentally dropping tomato seeds, and they sprout in days. Sex was craved, planned and enjoyed, so the resulting pregnancy must be accepted as one’s punishment.

In the Catholic Church, abortion is painted as the worst evil anybody can commit. Souls of aborted babies are said to be stuck in Limbo, a place of uncertainty; they are neither on earth nor return to heaven. This alone must torture the mind of anyone thinking of abortion. I think the message is clear: ‘Steer clear of abortion’.

Tradition

This piece is not supposed to take a side on the issue of abortion. I mean, you don’t want to know what may become of me if my parents, pastor, friends, neighbours and worst, my wife, get to read this piece. I’d be dead meat! So I’ll write all I can and leave you- the reader- to decide.

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If you haven’t heard, you must have seen cases of rape victims getting pregnant in movies. Nigerians want them to keep the children; it’s not the fault of the fused cells, so why ‘flush’ it out? Live with it. The child may become the president to make Nigeria greater than the United States.

Many traditions in Nigeria also frown at abortion. The belief is that life is sacred and cannot be taken without incurring the wrath of a supernatural being or the spirit of the person killed.

Illegal practices

Studies have shown that restricting women’s access to legal abortion can result in negative consequences. Indeed, strict laws do not necessarily lead to fewer abortions, rather many women are compelled to patronize illegal practices which are often risky and can be dangerous to their health. The World Health Organization estimates up to “23,000 women die from unsafe abortions each year and tens of thousands more experience significant health complications globally.” Nigeria is no exception and many women who take the risk have found themselves in this situation time and time again.

Conclusion

Judging from the above, it is clear that many Nigerians would side with the opponents of Roe v Wade in the United States many of whom are prominent members of the Republican party. Regardless of where you stand, as the debate rages on in the US on the pros and cons of others deciding what a woman should do with her body, it is perhaps time for Nigeria and Nigerians to open up this can of worms and bring this taboo subject to the open.

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