The Holy Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria has vehemently Denounced the Government’s Push to Decriminalize Abortion. The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) has raised concerns about the Nigerian government’s reported move to broaden access to abortion, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding human dignity.
In a statement issued Friday, October 25, CSN Secretary General, Fr. Zacharia Nyantiso Samjumi reports that Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health is reviewing sections of the country’s Criminal Code to increase access to “safe termination of pregnancies”.
“In a recent development, the Federal Government of Nigeria is allegedly working towards expanding access to safe termination of pregnancies in the country,” he says in the statement shared with ACI Africa.
The CSN Secretary refers to an October 4 report on Daily Trust where the Head of the Health Promotion Department of the Federal Ministry of Health, Barrister Nma Ogbonna, disclosed during the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Summit 1.0 that the Ministry was working on reviewing some sections of the Criminal Code 1090 on abortion to see its decriminalization.
Fr. Samjumi says, at the summit with the theme: ‘A Choice for All: Freedom to Plan, Power to Choose’, Barr. Ogbonna further disclosed that the health promotion department was “working assiduously to educate the populace on sexual reproductive health and rights and tackling maternal deaths in the country.”
“For many Nigerians, Barr. Ogbonna’s pronouncement on behalf of the Federal Government substantiated the fears already created by the government’s various preceding moves to enshrine postmodern secularistic ideologies that significantly undermine the cultural, moral, and religious beliefs of Nigerian citizens,” he says
The Nigerian Catholic Priest recalls that the Government signed the Samoa Agreement not long ago, which also had LGBTQ provisions.
He says, “The so-called Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) already in practice pushes forward the sexualization of Nigerian school pupils through corrupted school curricula, including teaching school pupils how to carry out abortion, masturbation, breast enlargement, and touching of their genitals.
“Not unconnected is the Bill at the National Assembly to regulate Surrogacy in Nigeria,” Fr. Samjumi further says.
The CSN Secretary General faults the government’s stance, describing the potential decriminalization as a departure from Nigeria’s moral, cultural, and religious values.
“The statement by the Health Promotion Department of the Federal Ministry of Health authenticates the fears of a potential assault on our extant values, beliefs, and cultural norms regarding shared values as a people,” Fr. Samjumi says.
He adds, “This development seriously threatens the value and dignity of the human person. It is saddening to know that it is the Government that is so oblivious of the Constitutions of the country it solemnly swore to protect because, for the foregoing, the decisions by the Government contravene the provisions of the Constitutions, which prescribe absolute protection and respect of human life and its inherent dignity.”
“How could a government do that to its people? The Constitution says one thing, and the government, which has a duty to uphold the Constitution, deliberately contradicts it,” the Nigerian Catholic Priest says
Fr. Samjumi notes that the Catholic Church in Nigeria, through the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has “consistently advocated for the protection of human life through its communiqués, teachings, and ecclesiastical documents.”
“The Church maintains that any law that fails to respect the right to life and human dignity contradicts natural and divine laws,” he adds.
The CSN Secretary-General calls upon the government to shift its focus from “expanding access to safe termination of pregnancy” to instead educating the population on the dignity of human life.
“Rather than enthrone the culture of death through the legalization of abortion, the government should place a premium on the sacred dignity and love that should be accorded to the human person, which is guaranteed by natural law and divine commandments and affirmed in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he says.
Fr. Samjumi further says, “It is safer to have human dignity included in the curriculum than to work against it in the name of providing access, shrouded in the garb of human freedom. The more we know and value the other person’s dignity, the more society will seamlessly live in peace and harmony.”
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