Abstract:
Background: Abortion is highly controversial in Nigeria and has given rise to an on-going debate concerning its legalization as a solution to Nigeria’s high maternal mortality ratio. But not much is known about the public’s perception and support for legal abortion as a veritable means to reduce maternal death in Nigeria.
Objective: The study was designed to assess the perception and support of the public in Enugu urban, of legalization of abortion, as a necessary tool to reduce maternal mortality in Nigeria.
Method: A descriptive survey design method was adopted for the study. A multistage sampling technique starting with purposive method was used to select three (3) local government areas, nine (9) institutions and equal number of males and females from each institution. A sample size of 384 was calculated and rounded up to 432.A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 20 and Pearson Chi square test was used to establish relationship between the variables. The value of p < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Majority of the respondents 75.4% do not support abortion and 79.9% do not support legalization of abortion as a solution to maternal death. The respondents displayed good knowledge of the causes of maternal death in Nigeria. The causes majority of them identified, are known to be the major medical and socio-cultural causes of maternal death. 78.9% of the respondents, know the magnitude of abortion and 52% know that abortion is a major contributor to maternal death. 67.8% disagreed that abortion is a human right. Majority of the alternative measures for solving the problems of maternal death suggested to the government are those that existing evidence support: provide free and quality health care services 83.2%, provide adequate coverage of emergency care services for pregnant women 79.8% etc.
Conclusion: legalization of abortion is not a favoured solution to maternal mortality. Several alternatives to induced abortion including strengthening the health system were suggested to the government. The government and all stake-holders should implement them through wide spread health education programmes at national, state and community levels in other to educate the public on the health hazards of induced abortion and encourage the use of the alternatives to abortion.
