Unsafe Abortion Is A Preventable Crisis: Ipas Nigeria Urges Legal Reform And Supportive Care For Women And Girls

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation calls for a more supportive environment that empowers women and girls to make informed decisions about their lives and health. In alignment with this year’s theme, “Give to Gain,” it is critical that women and girls are given the opportunity to make safe abortion choices—because when we give access to safe care, we gain reduced maternal deaths.

Safe abortion, when provided by trained healthcare professionals or self-managed with prescribed medication, is extremely safe. However, due to persistent myths, restrictive laws, moral and religious stigma, and limited access to services, abortion remains unsafe for many women in Nigeria. Unsafe abortion contributes to at least 13% of maternal mortality nationally.

Evidence also shows that when abortion care is delivered safely, it is 14 times safer than carrying a pregnancy to term, yet unsafe abortion continues to be a silent killer—driven by stigma, shame, legal restrictions, and limited access to quality care.

The pervasive incidence of rape and incest creates even more devastating outcomes for survivors, especially due to the stigma surrounding pregnancies resulting from rape. Research by Ipas Nigeria shows that 76% of women and girls aged 15–49 have experienced sexual violence, and 3 out of 25 survivors surveyed became pregnant as a result of rape. These women and girls are often forced into unsafe alternatives or required to carry unwanted, trauma inducing pregnancies.

Unsafe abortion is a preventable public health crisis. To address it, Nigeria must:

• Reform outdated laws to protect women’s access to safe abortion care;
• Equip healthcare workers with adequate training to deliver safe, high quality services;
• Provide a supportive environment that enables women and girls to make informed decisions about their reproductive health.

Speaking on the urgent need for reform, Dr. Lucky Palmer, Country Director of Ipas Nigeria Health Foundation, states:

“Our law is over 150 years old, a colonial law. We have effectively handcuffed women’s ability to make better decisions by attaching stigma and shame to abortion care instead of empathy. This International Women’s Day, we must commit to giving women a safe environment to make informed choices by ensuring accurate information, providing safe abortion care and creating laws that protect abortion access.”