THE NIGERIAN MEDICAL PRACTITIONER’S DUTY TO PRESERVE THE LIFE OF AN UNBORN CHILD VIS-A-VIS THE MOTHER’S RIGHT TO REJECT CERTAIN MEDICAL TREATMENTS IN LIFE THREATENING SITUATIONS

Abstract

In Nigeria, a pregnant woman has the constitutional right to refuse certain medical treatment procedures if such treatment procedure in her opinion, contravenes her right to privacy and her right to practice the religion of her choice. The problem associated with this choice to refuse or accept the intended treatment procedure is that in most cases these women fail to put into consideration the interest of the in utero child. Furthermore, some of these women believe that their autonomous right to privacy gives them the unreserved right to decide what happens to their body. Thus, for these women, their interests and rights outweigh and supersede that of the unborn child. In the exercise of these rights by these pregnant women, some pertinent questions have been raised. Some of these questions which this work has made a bold attempt to proffer legal answers to are; Is the foetus entitled to a right to life? Is the foetus a distinct personality from the mother? At what point will the State intervene to uphold the right to life of an unborn child? Are these constitutional rights exercised by a pregnant woman in Nigeria absolute?