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483-494, 1996
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INTRODUCTION
For many--though not all--rural Ekiti Yoruba
women in southwestern Nigeria, abortion is considered to be one among a continuum of birth control
options, which include the use of traditional medicines prepared by local herbalists and 'patent' medicines obtained from pharmacies. Such substances
come under the general name, oogun ti won l e f t se ki
oyun maa d u r o - - ' m e d i c i n e that keeps a pregnancy
from staying'. As this general name suggests, such
medicines--and associated activities--may include
some which terminate a pregnancy as well as those
that can prevent one. Thus the distinction between
contracepting and terminating a pregnancy is not
always clearly made.
Most people are aware of this distinction, generally
associated with medicines taken before intercourse
and those taken after. However, as one babalawo
(diviner-healer) pointed out, "It is easier to bring
down a pregnancy than to prevent one." His comment suggests a technological explanation for the
local prevalence of medicines that terminate a pregnancy over contracepting types and explains, in part,
why this distinction is not emphasized.
Further, the blurred line between what constitutes
contraceptives and abortifacients--both referred to
at times as oogun baje, 'medicine that spoils', reflects
a particular reproductive ideology in which the ethical distinction between abortion and contraception is
not the revelant one. According to the traditional
ideal, a woman during her reproductive life should
have as many children as two years of post-partum
abstinence allows. One should welcome pregnancy,
not prevent it.
483
484
Elisha P. Renne
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485
Name
Bee-Codeine tablets
Dr. Bonjean's t a b l e t s
M & B tablets
Andrew's liver salt
'Alabukun' powder
Menstrogen
Panadol
Phrensic
Tetracyclincapsules
Family Planning tablets
Dosage/taken with:
2~, tablets w/local gin
1-2 tablets w/water
2-4 tablets w/water
I packet w/Sprite
1-2 packets w/water
2 tablets w/water
4 tablets w/salt, water
2 tablets w/Panadol, Sprite
4 capsules w/water
2 tablets w/water
486
Elisha P. Renne
Table 3. Women using patent medicineand getting D&C for abortion
Patent
Age (n = 300)
medicine only*
D&C only
Both't
15 19 (n = 111)
20-24 (n = 64)
25-29 (n = 33)
30-34 (n = 16)
35-39 (n = 28)
40-44 (n = 21)
45~,9 (n = 27)
Total by method
Percentage of total women surveyed
6
6
3
I
---1
17
5.7%
8
14
2
1
5
3
-33
11.0%
8
3
2
I
---14
4.6%
Total
by age
22
23
7
3
5
3
I
64
21.3%
*Patent medicines include Bee-codeine, Menstrogen, Dr. Bonjean, Tetracyclin and Panadol with
Phrensic.
"l'Figureincludestwo casesin which traditional medicinewas unsuccessfullyused first~followedby D&C.
Reason
Schooling
Did not want pregnancy at the time
Boyfriend denied or did not want pregnancy
Pregnancy not for husband or fiance
Pregnancy interferes with business, profession
Father unknown
No money to care for child
Had enough children
Parents did not want her to have child
Incestuous relationship
Rape
487
town for D & C The abortion cost N80 and was paid for by
my boyfriend. There were no after effects.
488
Elisha P. Renne
secondary
ABORTION
Version 1.
Two months after conception, something like a lizard with
a tail will be formed. When it is four months old, it will be
something like an amoeba, shapeless. (This is why it is
difficult to terminate a pregnancy in the fourth month.)
After four months, 1 week, the real child will be formed,
having the head bigger than the rest of the body. The real
child will grow and its size will be equally distributed when
ready to be born. The child will also be kicking then. When
it is about eight months, three weeks, the child will just come
very near the womb. During the day the mother will just see
water and have a general weakness of the body. She will go
to the hospital or get help to deliver. During the delivery,
the child will come out first, followed by the placenta [my
italics] (Teacher, "social' diviner, man, about 50 years).
489
Version 3
The blood in the stomach will be in the form of a child, it
will be the first month child. When it is the second month,
the red color become whitish. The third month, it will be in
the form of a lizard (during this time it has no color and the
head will be in the form of a monkey and people will not
like how it is formed). In the fourth month, it will be in the
form of watery blood and semen. In the fifth month, the
thing will be shaking the woman's body, moving up and
down in the stomach and making stomach pains (but it isn't
stomach pain, it is just the moving around). At this time, the
tail will disappear. In the sixth and seventh months, the
thing will be shaking very well. But in the eighth month, it
can't shake, it doesn't have power again. It will be resting
and it's not good to abort during this time. If someone
aborts during this period, the person will die. It will take all
her blood so she will die. When nine months, it will be strong
again. It will turn the head down and shake the body very
well in order to have the chance to come down (Traditional
diviner, woman, about 40 years).
The last version is instructive as it suggests that
it is not good to abort so late in a pregnancy
because of excessive bleeding which will lead to
the death of the woman. She may also be suggesting
that it is not good in a moral sense to abort so late
as the pregnancy has clearly become a child by this
time.
The ambiguous morality of late abortion was also
implied by the 'social' babalawo mentioned above.
He said that he could not tell me about abortions
performed in the eighth month because only
witches and wizards--immoral, anti-social creatures
by definition---could know about such things.
He intimated that supernatural intervention was
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Elisha P. Renne
Version 1
When the male and female meet, both of them produce eggs
which start eating each other as food. The last one, if it
belongs to the female, then the pregnancy will result in a
female child, while if it is a male egg, it will be a male child
(Teacher, 'social' diviner, man, about 50 years).
Version 2
When it is the time of menstruation, the child will be in the
left or right hand side of the stomach, the blood will stay
on the left or right also. So when it is a month, the menses
blood and the semen [will mix] (Traditional diviner, woman,
about 40 years).
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Elisha P. Renne
REFERENCES
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
493
APPENDIX
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Elisha P. Renne