The Catholic Church has called on the Governor of the Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to stop the implementation of the guidelines for the termination of pregnancy in the state.
It would be recalled that Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Health has unveiled a policy document on safe termination of pregnancy.
The 40-page policy document, tagged “Lagos State Guidelines on Safe Termination of Pregnancy for Legal Indications”, sets out guidelines for safe termination of pregnancy within the ambit of the criminal law of Lagos State.
However, the church said the argument by the Lagos State Ministry of Health for giving the guidelines was nothing but a means of legalising abortion through the backdoor.
The church said it was not only unjustifiable but also unacceptable, adding that the guidelines were nothing but ways of creating room for indiscriminate abortion.
Rejecting the guidelines, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Adewale Martins, said it was untrue that all stakeholders were consulted in the guidelines’ preparation process.
Director of Social Communications, Lagos Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, made this known in a statement on Sunday.
The statement quoted Martins as saying, “The Catholic Church and all ethically-minded people oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to terminate the life of a baby in the womb.