Socio-legal implication and public attitudes of rural women on abortion in Southwestern, Nigeria

Abstract

Abortion has been a social menace whether considered an outright crime or constitutional right to privacy. Studies claimed that abortion is illegal except to save the life, there has been little focus on the socio-legal implication and public attitudes of rural women on abortion in Southwestern, Nigeria. Questionnaire was administered to 1236 respondents and 179 in-depth interviews were conducted. Most (89.3%) respondents were not aware of any law against abortion and 68.4% of the respondents did not see anything wrong with abortion. Majority (99.8%) respondents were involved in one abortion process in their lifetime while 83.0% of the respondents' used traditional drugs to induce abortion. There was no single arrest from any law enforcement officers and many pregnant women lost their lives. There is a need for mass enlightenment, improvement on legalising abortion laws, and provision of medical and surgical technologies to ensure access to safe abortion services.

Keywords: Socio-legal, Abortion, Rural women, Public attitude, Southwestern