Help to End Stigmatization of Unintended Pregnancy

She loved him so much, he was the carpenter's son, and she was the only daughter of the rich business man. She knew it could never be. Her parents won't hear of it. You see, her parents were rich snobs who felt poor people were far beneath them and mingling with the poor was a taboo. But she kept loving him anyway, she kept meeting him in secret, she kept spending time with him, she couldn't help it. Love is not an emotion you can easily control. As far as she was concerned he was the love of her life and She would keep seeing him as long as she can hide it from her parents

And then she missed her period. She started feeling nauseous and ill. 

She knew she was pregnant. She told her lover and he was ready to take responsibility and marry her. Together they went to her parents and told them. Her parents went ballistic, her mother hit her for the first time in her life, she had never seen them that angry before, the blatantly refused to marry her off to the church rat the called him. 

They insisted she terminate the pregnancy because they couldn't bear the shame and stigma it will bring to the family's good name. They are a family of wealth and affluence. The told her the wanted the best for her. The wanted her to marry a wealthy man. 

She cried And cried and begged them to change their minds, but their minds were made up already. 

 In Nigeria, in fact Africa as a whole. The rate of abortion is very high. 

Lots of parents dont discuss sex with their children and because of this young people often lack knowledge about consequences of unprotected sex such as unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS. 

This increases the risk of early pregnancy. Because of the stigma and shame that is attached to unintended pregnancy, as a result some had carried out unsafe abortions. 

Girls with unwanted pregnancies face lots of discrimination in Africa, asides from being psychologically violated by parents. They are gossiped about and stigmatized by the community and peer group. They are seen as bad examples and because of this, many are pushed to have abortions and die in the process. 

Some African parents even help their kids have this abortion just like the parents in the above story, the care more about their good name than the fact they might lose their daughter in the process. They also forget children are gifts from God and the baby to be murdered is their grandchild. 

Let's stop the stigmatization of unintended pregnancy. 

Let's save the lives of many young girls out there. 

Let's stop discriminating the poor

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