Reacting to the global sex education project, IPPF Director– General, Dr. Tom Waltz explicitly stated his organization’s intention is to continue the illogical and damaging sexed campaign. “It is not just that it would be better for children to know about sex, it is absolutely imperative that they do. This is where I think the main responsibility of IPPF lies now. And this is something we intend to talk about loud and clear,” he’d said.
Meanwhile the condom company, IPPF, the AIDS establishment and other anti-life organizations and foundations, Senator Nnamani’s presidential campaign team, rattled by the Frankie’s saga, in one last desperate bid to stop the destruction it was wrecking, asked the president to step in, but the president rejected the plea to intervene in a court proceedings. When that failed too, they had no other option than to turn to Tony. They offered him mouth watering incentives and added a lot of zeroes to his bank account. Trust Tony, he mortgage his conscience and the future of unborn children for a plate of porridge.
However, hearing had continued with the school doctor, who is charged with attempting to murder an unborn child through abortion in the witness box.
“Doctor, can you describe the state the witness was in when she came in for consultation on the 18th?” The defense counsel asked.
“She came into the clinic around midday, feeling feverish and looking sick. I ran a battery of checks on her, and to my greatest surprise, I found out she was 3 months pregnant and also infected with the deadly HIV virus.”
“So what did you do next?”
“First of all, I treated her for fever before reporting the matter to the principal.”
“Yes, go on.”
“Two days later she came back, feeling demoralized and unenthusiastic about life, she was crying and feeling terribly disappointed and couldn’t quit blaming herself.”
“In other words she was becoming a mental and physical wreck and feeling suicidal?” The defense counsel asked.
“Objection, my lord, the question is leading,” the prosecuting counsel cried.
“Over ruled, you may answer the question,” the judge said.
“Yes.”
“Now doctor, why was she feeling suicidal? You understand the question? Was it because of the pregnancy?”
“Yes. Actually, you know she had expected so much from herself. She so much wanted to be the ideal woman and being the only daughter of a prominent politician put that added pressure on her. So, she was naturally worried when she found out that she was pregnant. She was afraid of being made a laughing stock among her peers. So she threatened to kill herself if she was forced to keep the pregnancy.”
“Are you serious? Do you mean she actually threatened to kill herself if she was forced to keep the pregnancy?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“In other words, she was the one asking for the abortion?”
“Objection, my lord, the question is leading.”
“Over ruled, you may continue, defense counsel.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Turning to the doctor, the defense counsel asked, “Doctor, did you by any chance suggest or pressurize her into having an abortion?”
“Oh not at all. In fact, she was the one asking for the abortion. She wanted so badly to get rid of the pregnancy and threatened to kill herself if she was forced to keep it. She even begged me not to let her parents know about it.” The doctor lied shamefacedly.
Frankie bit her lip bitterly at the blatant lies, holding back her tears. She felt a great surge of repulsion and vindication run through her. She wondered why they were all lying without consideration, wondered what they will gain or lose if they tell the simple truth. She felt the tears run down her cheeks. But then she remembered Barr. Nwaka’s advice just before the trial began. ‘You gonna try to be strong. You are going to come up against powerful oppositions. They are going to make hideous insinuations and accusations and levy untold lies against you. They will try to break you down and ride over you, but you are not going to let that happen. You are not going to let them get you cowed. Just be strong and say the truth and nothing else matters,’ he’d told her. She blinked back tears and dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. Looking up instinctively, she caught the Barrister’s eyes and he winked at her.
“It’s okay,” he muttered.
“So what are we talking about here? Your honor, you can see that the question as to whether Dr. Okoro attempted to commit abortion with or without a woman’s consent is totally irrelevant. What is at stake here, my lord is, whether it is legal to abort an unwanted pregnancy or not when the woman’s life is at risk. Yes, Dr. Okoro attempted to perform abortion, but she did it in a manner consistent with the Abortion Regulation Act 1969 and in accordance with the Adolescence Reproductive Health Rights, which recognizes the equal right of the mother. Her action is also in accordance with the Hippocratic Oath, i.e., saving lives, that is, saving the girl from becoming a physical and mental wreck. In fact, Dr. Okoro would have been probably prosecuted had she refused to provide Sexual and Reproductive Health services to Frankie and for violating her Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. We all know there are many types of gender acts of violence that affects women and girls today, among them being ‘forced motherhood’ and the refusal to provide sexual and reproductive health services to adolescents and single women. This refusal is an act of violence and discrimination against women and girls, which are women’s human rights. We also know ‘forced motherhood’ is one of the greatest and most insidious acts of domestic violence facing women and girls today. The question before this honorable court today therefore should be; should a woman be forced to carry to term a pregnancy that she does not want? Hasn’t a woman a right over her own body and life?”
“Yes, I happen to know a little bit about the Adolescence Reproductive Health and the Sexual and Reproductive Rights,” the presiding judge said.
“I’m aware of that, your honor and that is why I’m confident requesting for a verdict of dismissal.”
“Any question for the witness, Mr. Nwaka?”
“Yes, yes, your honor.”
“You may proceed.”
“Doctor Okoro?”
“Yes.”
“How many years have you been in the medical profession?” 
“10 years, why?”
“Good, and how many abortions have you performed till date?”
“Objection,” the defense council cried. “My lord, the question is immaterial,” 
“Goes to motive.”
“I’ll sustain that, Mr. Brown,” the judge said, and turning to the doctor, he said. “You may answer the question.”
“A couple, I guess.”
“By a couple, I hope you mean a million abortions and above?”
“My God, no! Just about one or two abortions actually.”
“That’s hardly believable, Doctor. Recently I went to the medical council office at Queen Park, Ijora. As I was leaving, I saw a marble slab which has the physician’s Oath engraved on it. What I read sent me thinking and I was about to copy the oath down when a good natured lady offered me this booklet,” he waved a booklet around, “which contains the precious oath. Part of the oath reads, ‘I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of humanity …I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity, the health-emphasis on health, of my patients will be my first consideration, …I will maintain utmost respect for human life from the time of conception even under threat, I will not use my medical knowledge, contrary to the laws of humanity,’” he paused. “Did I read this oath well?” he asked the doctor as he closed the booklet and took slow, menacing steps towards her on the witness box.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Good, did you promise to look after the death or health of your patients?”
“The health of my patients, my lord.”
“Did you say from the time of conception?”
“Yes.”
“Which means you recognize the fact that life begins at conception?”
“Yes.”
“Doctor?”
“Yes.”
“What is abortion? You understand the question, don’t you? I mean, what does abortion really do?”
“Abortion is the unnatural termination of a natural pregnancy but sometimes, it could be therapeutic.”
“Therapeutic? To the baby who is killed or the woman who may be accidentally injured during the process?”
“I don’t know.”
“Good doctor, you said the witness was feeling suicidal which makes it lawful to terminate a natural pregnancy? Now doctor, can you tell this honorable court what made you think she was feeling suicidal?”
“She was soliloquizing and flying into tantrums. Even at the dormitory, she refused to eat and brooded all day.”
“Do you have any proof of this?”
“Yes, off course. The students can testify to that.”
“I don’t mean that. I mean a medical report from two or more qualified doctors affirming the fact that she was feeling suicidal?”
“No, but the principal and the students can testify to that.”
“My dear doctor, the principal and students are not medical doctors, psychologists or psychiatrists and that means you have no proof at all. Well doctor,” the Barrister called quietly, taking slow deliberate steps towards her. Everybody held their breath.
“Yes.”
“Did you or did you not suggest or use any kind of force or tried to pressurize her into having an abortion against her will?”
“No, not at all. In fact, she was the one asking for the abortion.”
“Doctor?”
“Yes.”
“Did she say and I quote, “you should have told me it was equally medically unsafe for teenagers to have sex.”
The doctor hesitated. 
“You’re under oath doctor. A girl’s future, a baby’s life and men’s career are on the line. Did she say something like that?”
“Yes, she did,” she replied. 
The judge made notes.
“Doctor Okoro, you said the witness was the one asking for the abortion, why then didn’t she get one and why was she sent out of school?”
“Well, I don’t know, but I guess after she saw the scan, she chickened out. And for sending her away from school, I am not the school authority who did that, you have to ask them yourself.”
“Now doctor Okoro, how is this; a minute ago, you admitted that she came in requesting for an abortion, and the very next minute, you are talking about wanting to keep the baby. Which of these two are we to believe?”
“Objection,” the defense counsel interrupted. “My lord, if he has any problem with the girl changing her mind, he had better ask her.”
“I’m gonna sustain that Mr. Nwaka, please rephrase your question.”
“As your lordship pleases, I will. Doctor, I put it to you that you deliberately and with aforethought on the day in question, attempted to perform abortion without a woman’s consent contrary to section one of the infant life (Preservation Act 1929) which makes it an offence to ‘destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive’ by any willful act which ‘causes a child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother’ and the Offence Against the Person Act of 1861.”
“Objection, my lord, the witness can’t be guilty. The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 made abortion legal only when such destruction was done for the sole purpose of saving the mother’s life,” the defense counsel counteracted.
“Was that what she did then?”
“Yes. She felt the girl’s mental and physical health will be adversely affected by giving birth.” 
“My dear learned gentleman, the Abortion Act 1968 did not legalize abortion; neither did it replace the Offences Against the Person’s Act 1861 nor the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. Rather, it merely stated that those carrying out an abortion would be exonerated from prosecution under those earlier Acts, provided they complied with the conditions set out in the 1967 Act. The act states, for example, that no one involved in an abortion would be guilty of an offence if the abortion was carried out by a doctor after two or more doctors have certified, in good faith, that one or more of the six grounds as listed in the schedule two of the abortion regulation act 1968. Now doctor, can you sincerely say that this girl fell into any of these grounds? And do you have any medical proof that she was feeling suicidal? I mean how many doctors saw her or confirmed this assertion?”
“Well, the school principal and students can testify to that.”
“The principal and the students are not doctors; you know that, don’t you?”
The defense counsel scratched his head irritably.
Turning to the judge, the prosecutor said, “My lord, you can see clearly that there is no medical evidence to prove that the witness is medically unfit to carry her baby to term and you can see that abortion on demand isn’t the girl’s demand. The defense counsel said the refusal to provide sexual and reproductive health services and forced motherhood are acts of violence and discrimination against women and girls, but we all know the terms gender, forced motherhood and sexual reproductive rights are euphemism for the sexual revolution-abortion, contraceptives and sterilizations-therefore it holds no water either. And I will tell you why. We all know that babies don’t get pregnant. Therefore, a woman who is old enough to get pregnant should be old enough to have her baby, period. We all know too what abortion does, we know it stops a beating heart. We also know of the immeasurable physical and psychological trauma that post abortive women suffer. We know too that abortion violates the right of the unborn (even though we may pretend about this). The question we should be asking ourselves is; what right gives us the right to take away other people’s lives?” he paused, “Dear ladies and gentlemen, and members of the jury, there is no doubt that the range of gender-based acts of violence is devastating, but redefining domestic violence to mean refusal to provide abortion and access to pills and condoms/contraceptives are certainly not some of them. If truly there is an injustice (and of course, there is), these are certainly not some of them rather it lies in our refusal to provide medically and morally accurate information about sex and sexual matters, pressurizing mothers to abort their babies against their will and promoting unsubstantiated claims that condoms offer protection or that abortion is a safe, easy procedure with no complications at all. Thank you. We’ll talk again.”