An Analysis of Nigeria's Restrictive Abortion Laws and the Need for its Review

Abortion is any interruption of the continuous development of a foetus from the point of conception 
to when it is capable of surviving outside the mothers’ womb. Induced abortion is expressly 
criminalised under the Nigeria penal legal system. The criminalization of induced abortion is 
argued to be a factor that has by implication denied women access to safe abortion procedures 
and expose them to the risk of unsafe abortions. There are however agitations for the liberalisation 
of abortion laws in Nigeria having regards to its negative effect on women in Nigeria, occasioned 
by the lack of access to safe abortion and resort to clandestine abortion procedures, due to the 
restrictions in the Nigerian penal codes.  Adopting the doctrinal research approach, this paper 
examines the position of the law on abortion in Nigeria, as well as the agitations revolving around 
it. This paper further examines the negative effect of unsafe abortion on the reproductive health of 
women, the limitations on their reproductive right as posed by the Nigerian restrictive abortion 
laws. This paper finds that induced abortion is prevalent in Nigeria and it is been carried out in 
unsafe and unprofessional environments because of the restrictive laws. It recommends that 
abortion laws in Nigeria be relaxed and induced abortion be regulated by law