Nigerian Catholic Women Register Opposition to Abortion
ABUJA, Nigeria, Feb. 20, 01 (CWNews.com) - A Catholic
women's group in Nigeria has officially registered its
opposition to a proposed legalization of abortion as part
of the review of the African country's constitution.
The Owerri Provincial Council of Catholic Women has sent a
petition to the National Constitution Review Committee
protesting plans to legalize abortion in a new
constitution. "Abortion should not be legalized in
Nigeria," the group said in the letter. They said the
practice "kills and dehumanizes womanhood." They added,
"The right of the unborn child should be protected and
abortion goes contrary to the fifth commandment of God,
'Thou shalt not kill.'"
The one-page petition, dated February 1 and signed by Julie
Anyanwu and Clara Okorie, president and secretary
respectively, as well as by four other members, was
received and read on the floor of the Abia House of
Assembly by the Deputy Speaker, Chief Emeka Stanley.
The woman's group was joined in the protest by the
Christian Association of Nigeria's youth division. In a
letter entitled, "A Statement on the Stand of the Christian
Association of Nigeria Youth Wing on Legalization of
Abortion in Nigeria," the group said: "The inalienable
rights of the person must be recognized and respected by
civil society and political authorities, and such
fundamental rights include the right to life from the
moment of conception until death."
The youth group called abortion "a criminal act, abominable
and absolutely unacceptable and could not be justified by
any economic, social, political, or cosmetic reason."
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February 21, 2001
volume 12, no. 52
Pro Life News
www.DailyCatholic.org
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