As part of activities to mark International Safe Abortion day, a non-governmental organisation, Society to Heighten Awareness of Women and Children Abuse (SOTHAWACA), yesterday, held an enlightenment programme on abortion, where it sensitised young people on need to abstain from pre-marital sex. It also urged government and private schools to introduce sex education into the curriculum.
Founder of the group, Ronke Ojeikere, said the discourse was to bridge the gap between pro-abortionists and anti-abortionists.
And though characterised by mixed reactions from different panelists, but they all resolved on need to educate people on abortion, train teachers on the issue, as well as introduce sexuality education into school curriculum and the such.
Chairman of the event, Jaiye Ojeikere, in his remarks, said at a time, China had problem of overpopulation and that it became apparent to regulate birth rate. He also made allusion to Egypt in terms of the birth rate. He noted that Catholics have been pondering on whether to start allowing women use contraceptives to control birth rate. He concluded by saying that even though doctors may try to deny it, but birth control could be another form of abortion.
On her part, Guest of Honour, Dr. Carol Akande-Dickson said she was against abortion, quoting portions of the Holy Bible to support her position.
A panelist, Stella Ojeme who is the Coordinator Child Protection Network – CPN Edo State looked at Abortion from the Legal perspective, citing Section 297 of the Criminal Code, which states that abortion is illegal.
