My earlier consideration on the abortion issue was that abortion was wrong and unacceptable in every situation except in those very extreme, one-out-of-a-million cases. As I grew older however and became wiser as to the world’s ways, I began to modify my views. My thoughts on the issue further took a rather radical turn after I graduated medical school and began practicing medicine in the real world; in the sub-Saharan African world.

I read a long time ago that pro-abortion groups in the Western nations used slogans like ‘not every ejaculation deserves a name,’ to push home their arguments. I thought that was quite selfish. I still do. If one knows that not every ejaculation deserves a name; and knows that every ejaculation could lead to a name, isn’t it just sensible to put a condom over every erect penis? Should a life be taken just because in the heat of passion one was careless or refused to use protection? And what the ‘fuck’ happened to night-after pills (pun intended). I think that anyone who carelessly gets pregnant in nations which have the resources to cater sufficiently for their citizens should serve the punishment of carrying such pregnancy to term and suffer the added on sentence of caring for and loving that child. This however cannot be the case in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa is fraught with many complex problems. We cannot justly itemize the issues that are the bane of our existence: our economic problems are intricately linked with our cultures; our pact of intimacy with illiteracy is indistinguishably associated with our style of government; our failure at a world sporting event is linked with poor electrical supply at home et cetera, such that one cannot sufficiently address a problem, say, of lack of potable water without having to consider some seemingly much unconnected issue as say, female empowerment. All African problems are tied together. They are as closely related as brothers and sisters from the same parents. Thus one cannot justly look at sub-Saharan Africa through the same straight-forward lens with which we look at the rest of the world. While I would claim that abortions in civilized nations are unjustifiable except where they prevent loss of life or health to the mother, we cannot say

 that such is the case in sub-Saharan Africa. The sad truth is that abortions in this part of the world prevent the death or further suffering of many other persons. And in such situations as we already are, is it not safe to ask that is the life of one not better sacrificed for the lives of many, and the countless other people that are connected to them?

Nigeria as a prototype of the Sub Saharan African region has one of the highest dependency ratios in the world. Parents work well into their sixties and seventies not for love of their jobs, but because they are still bread winners for their families. The children they train rarely get salaries good enough to support themselves. The young ones are poorly educated and lack appropriate motivation to aspire to a better life. This sets in motion a vicious cycle of an ever increasing dependency ratio. With this as our societal reality, let us picture a young, poorly educated girl who gets impregnated by an equally uneducated and poor dependant boy. Without an abortion, the girl will be shamed by her family, very likely kicked out of the home and will not be given any financial support by the father whose absolution from the disgraceful situation will be to withdraw what little support he had hitherto offered his poor daughter. ‘Let her get money from her

 men friends’ would fittingly justify his decision. Care of the abandoned teenager would fall totally on the equally helpless would-be grandmother. A deeper chain of poverty begun, the child would be born into a dysfunctional family setting. There’s no saying that the chances of this child being exposed to physical abuse, disease, lack of education, physical, social and psychological deprivations are almost a hundred percent, and this is the perfect recipe for the making of a societal monster, an armed robber, or serial rapist, depending on what level of sexual development the child remains fixated at. Like a pyramid of numbers, this one-time sixteen-celled evil will multiply its results, causing further havoc to society, throw in its own quota in the needless loss of lives, contributing immensely to the shame that we call today’s Africa.

What about the poor child-mother? We all know (if you didn’t, please know now) that young girls with a history unwanted pregnancies are more than likely to get pregnant again and again with other unwanted pregnancies. So little Lucy will likely produce Thief, Thug, Rapist, Killer and Prostitute as her children. I am not going to mention what the economic impact of raising these children would be, what heartache they would cause the grandparents and neighbors, or what evil their combinations or solo efforts would have on the world at large, or that she would contact the HIV virus at some point in her miserable life. At the end we would not only have lost what could have been a bright and promising young girl, but we would have contributed to today’s mess, to the silent carnage that takes away slowly but definitely, the future of those of us unfortunate enough to be born and to live on African soil.

So do we legalise abortions? The answer is YES! The answer is NO! Whatever you may scream as your answer, the sad fact is that the actions of the people of Sub-Saharan Africa are almost never tied to the laws made by their governments. The governments are out of touch with the people, and the people are too unenlightened to know the advantages or disadvantages of the false dramas that take place in our legislative houses. If abortions were legalized in the region, it wouldn’t reduce the rates of unwanted pregnancies as is argued in some quarters; it wouldn’t even reduce the rate of illegal or criminal abortions. The reason for the criminal abortions is not because termination of a viable, no-threat fetus is a crime, but because our cultures utterly persecute girls who get pregnant out of wedlock. And so secrecy is their only option for survival. With secrecy there will be misinformation, and misinformation will take the frightened child down the very

 familiar path to Charlatan Avenue.

So what is the way out from this age-long, seemingly helpless situation?

Robot  # 1 | 03.07.2009 08:59

My earlier consideration on the abortion issue was that abortion was wrong and unacceptable in every situation except in those very extreme, one-out-of-a-million cases. As I grew older however and became wiser as to the world’s ways, I began to modify my views. My thoughts on the issue further took a rather radical turn after I graduated medical school and began practicing medicine in the real world; in the sub-Saharan African world. I read a long time ago that pro-abortion groups in the Western nations used slogans like ‘not every ejaculation deserves a name,’ to push home their arguments. I thought that was quite selfish. I still do. If one knows that not every ejaculation deserves a name; and knows that every ejaculation could lead to a name, isn’t it just sensible to put a condom over every erect penis? Should a life be taken just because in the heat of passion one was careless or refused to use protection? And what the ‘fuck’ happened to night-after pil...Read the full article.

Eace  # 2 | 03.07.2009 10:41

Dr, Your identification of secrecy and shame as the main instigator for abortions in Africa/Nigeria is appreciated. That is indeed true; more women are likely to want abortions for those reasons. However the legalisation of abortion is another issue by which many are unwittingly and some, cunningly, attempting to pass on personal responsibility for private decisions onto the State. Whether abortion is legalised or not, the personal guilt or memory of the act remains with the woman and is never discharged by reference to the legality of the act. There are some things which the law can never effectively legislate and one of them, is personal morality. You note that the sad truth is that abortions in this part of the world prevent the death or further suffereing of many other persons. And in such situations as we already are, is it not safe to ask that is the life of one not better sacrificed for the lives of many, and the countelss other people that are connected to them? There are several fallacies with this view point: 1. You represent that children born to poor child mothers will inevitably be miscreants. Wrong! There are several decent persons born to poor child mothers even in Nigeria. 2. You suggest that the most important element of child welfare is material/money hence abortion is unjustifiable in rich countries but justifiable given Africa's many problems. Money is certainly not the most important thing a child needs; many people have managed to become Presidents, Bishops, captains of Industry; sports heroes, artistes, etc, from abject poverty. 3.Following from the above, on what basis do you presume that because someone (in particular, from the West) is wealthy, they ought not to suffer from the same feelings of secrecy and shame that lead to a desire for abortion, just as their African counterparts? 4.Then you present an old argument of the genocidal philosophy: that some people are better off dead so that others may live - is the life of one not better sacrificed for the lives of many? Unwittingly or not, you have resurrected the question of Caiaphas who thought Jesus Christ should be killed on this basis; the argument of Hitler who needed to free the world of Jews in order to make room for the Aryan race; the argument of religious fundametalists who believe it is better to kill off infidels to make room for believers, and the argument of those who think society will be better off without the weak, the sick, the old and the infirm. Abortion, legal or illegal, is fraught with difficult considerations and is a most painful decision to take even for the health of the mother. What women, including the poor in Africa need is support, access to proper information that will enable them to make a balanced decision the full implications and consequences of which they must understand and, access to alternatives such as adoption. Granted, one must have the greatest sympathy for those who are driven to tear away from themselves, an innocent life. But our sympathy must never like this article offer patronising, insensitive and fallacious suggestions even to 'poor Africans'. Dr, I say this with the greatest respect for your opinion.

maikanodahiru  # 3 | 03.07.2009 13:27

I think it is better to encourage contraception rather than abortion

Oluwato  # 4 | 06.11.2009 01:48

Abortion and the power of prayer and one director gets it.... prayer is powerful!...http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/nov/09110204.html