The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria has protested against what it described “the enthronement of the culture of death through the legalisation of abortion” by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
As an option, the CSN told the government to place a premium on the sacred dignity and love that should be accorded to the human person in line with the constitution.
The organisation was reacting to a report that the Federal Government is working towards expanding access to safe termination of pregnancies in the country, according to the Head of the Health Promotion Department of the Federal Ministry of Health, Nma Ogbonna.
She was said to have given the hint during the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) summit 1.0 organised by the Media Health & Rights (MHR) Initiative of Nigeria to mark this year’s World Contraception Day.
According to the report, the Ministry is working on reviewing some Sections of the Criminal Code 1090 on abortion to see its decriminalisation.
At the summit with the theme: “A Choice for All: Freedom to Plan, Power to Choose,” Ogbonna further disclosed that the health promotion department is working assiduously to educate the populace on sexual reproductive health and rights and tackling maternal deaths in the country.
But the CSN in a statement titled, “Defending Human Dignity: The Church’s Stance Amidst Abortion Debate”, signed by its Secretary-General, Rev. Fr. Zacharia Nyantiso Samjumi, said Ogbonna’s pronouncement substantiated the fears already created by the government’s various preceding moves to enshrine post-modern secularistic ideologies that significantly undermine the cultural, moral, and religious beliefs of Nigerian citizens.
The statement recalled that the government surreptitiously signed the SAMOA Agreement; some of its provisions implicated the LGBTQ provisions, while the so-called Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) already in practice pushes forward the sexualisation of Nigerian school pupils through corrupted school curricula, including teaching school pupils how to carry out abortion, masturbation, breast enlargement, and touching of their genitals.
The CSN said not unconnected is the Bill at the National Assembly to regulate Surrogacy in Nigeria.
The statement reads, “Thus, the statement by the Health Promotion Department of the Federal Ministry of Health authenticates the fears of a potential assault on our extant values, beliefs and cultural norms regarding shared values as a people.
“This development seriously threatens the value and dignity of the human person. It is saddening to know that it is the government that is so oblivious of the constitutions of the country it solemnly swore to protect because, for the foregoing, the decisions by the government contravene the provisions of the constitutions, which prescribe absolute protection and respect of human life and its inherent dignity.
“For example, Section 33 of the 1999 constitution, as amended, guarantees the right to life, stating that “every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.”
“Chapter IV of the same constitution outlines fundamental human rights, including the right to life, dignity, and freedom from discrimination, emphasising the importance of protecting human life and dignity.
“How could a government do that to its people? The constitution says one thing, and the government, which has a duty to uphold the Constitution, deliberately contravenes it.
“The Catholic Church in Nigeria, through the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has consistently advocated for the protection of human life through its communiqués, teachings, and ecclesiastical documents.
“The Church maintains that any law that fails to respect the right to life and human dignity contradicts natural and divine laws.
“Therefore, the Church proposes that rather than expanding access to safe termination of pregnancy by destroying life, the government should amplify its efforts towards educating the people on the imperatives of the values and dignity of the human person.
“Rather than enthrone the culture of death through the legalisation of abortion, the government should place a premium on the sacred dignity and love that should be accorded to the human person, which is guaranteed by natural law and divine commandments and affirmed in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It is safer to have human dignity included in the curriculum than to work against it in the name of providing access, shrouded in the garb of human freedom. The more we know and value the dignity of the other person, the more society would seamlessly live in peace and harmony.”
Friday Olokor
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