Abortion in Nigeria is legally permitted only to save the life of the pregnant person. In the Southern states, exceptions also include preserving physical and mental health.
Although Nigeria’s Penal Code and Criminal Code establish limited legal exceptions for abortion, more restrictive in the North and slightly broader in the South, access to safe abortion remains severely constrained nationwide. Fear of prosecution, lack of legal clarity, and deeply rooted social stigma discourage healthcare providers from offering services, even when permitted by law.
Regional disparities in healthcare infrastructure and inconsistent enforcement further limit availability, particularly for marginalized communities. As a result, most abortions in Nigeria occur outside the formal health system. According to estimates from the Guttmacher Institute and WHO-supported studies, over 600,000 abortions occur annually, the vast majority of them unsafe. Unsafe abortion continues to be a leading cause of maternal mortality in Nigeria, which has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world.
