By Sofiyah Ismail
The rate at which female students commit abortion is quite alarming. Students struggle with increasing abortion rate. The report also documented the rate of abortion as 33 per 1000 in women aged 15-48. Abortion appears relatively high at the rate of 47.2% among university students in Southeast Nigeria. Though, a low rate of 6.7%was recorded in Northern Nigeria. The socio economic factors that causes abortion among tertiary students are financial difficulties, unemployment and inadequate economic support.Other reasons that causes abortion include the fear that one will be expelled from school and that parent or guardian will withdraw support.
Unsafe abortion has been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a procedure for terminating unwanted pregnancy that is performed by someone lacking the necessary skill or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards or both. Unsafe abortion can endanger women’s reproductive health and lead to serious, often life threatening complications.
Questionnaires were distributed among youths in Nigeria university, a total of 587 questionnaires were administered and analyzed. It revealed that awareness of legal provisions guiding abortion in Nigeria wa low, 28.3% of the respondent were aware of the criminal and penal code laws relating to abortion. It is recommended that schools should include education of legal stance on abortion in the curriculum. Also, the undergraduates students should be educated on mortality results from abortion to boost the development role of the country.