Stakeholders’ consensus at a three-day meeting by the Network of Reproductive Health Journalists was that the global gag rule, which requires that any overseas organisation receiving U.S. aid do not have anything to do with abortion, was anti-women and should be repelled.
Annually, for every 100,000 live births in Nigeria, 630 women die. While the country has a maternal death rate second only to India, medical and social reasons are usually touted as the cause for these deaths rather than preventable factors such as poorly equipped health facilities and negligence on the part of healthcare professionals; hence, the consideration of such deaths as simply health issues rather than a violation of fundamental human rights such as rights to life and family life.
