Catholic Church Berates Lagos Govt Over Abortion Legalization

Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos has condemned the legalisation of abortion by Lagos State government.

Recall that the Lagos State Government had recently the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, unveiled a 40-page policy document tagged ‘Lagos State guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications.’

Dr. Ogboye explained that the state House of Assembly had in 2011 updated it’s criminal code, providing for abortion to save life and protect the physical health of the woman.

The Lagos Archbishop, Most Rev. Adewale Martins said the claim by the state government that all stakeholders were consulted in the guidelines’ preparation was not true.

In a statement signed by Director of Social Communications, Lagos Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, the church called on the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to halt implementation of the guidelines on the process to follow for abortion in the state.

The Archbishop wondered why the state government was coming up with such guidelines at this time when even the United States that has practiced it for years was now reviewing it with the recent Supreme Court ruling on the matter.

The statement reads, “The Catholic Church and all ethically-minded people oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to terminate the life of a baby in the womb on the

“The unborn child has the right to live and be protected and not to be killed by the fiat of an unjust law.

“We believe strongly that every human life must be respected and protected especially the most vulnerable ones in the womb from the moment of their conception.

“There is nothing like an unwanted child because every child is a gift from God that should be nurtured and allowed to grow in fulfillment of their purpose in life.”

Fr. Godonu stated that efforts should be on exploring ways of providing support for women who find themselves in difficulty as a result of their pregnancy rather than thinking of aborting a child who is innocent of the difficulty that the mother may be going through.

“Any attempt to terminate the life of the unborn child is tantamount to murder and should be treated as a capital offence. Our focus, therefore, should be on proper enlightenment on human sexuality and collaboration in order to support women who get pregnant without being ready for the pregnancy,” Godonu stated.

The archdiocese said the guidelines is unacceptable, as it is simply a way of promoting indiscriminate abortion.