Abortion
ABORTION IN KENYA It can be described in a simple way as the act of getting rid of an unborn child.
Abortion debate has dominated the thoughts of Kenya since antiquity.
This is an issue that has been there in Kenya since time in memorial because it began in the traditional era before colonialism.
Most communities in the past considered it a taboo to bear a child before marriage. Incase a woman fell pregnant before marriage the community’s solution to this problem was abortion of the child. That was just an example to show that abortion has very deep roots in our country not to forget that most Kenyans stick to their traditions.
The new constitution of Kenya adopted in the year 2010 establishes that a pregnant woman or adolescent may choose to have an abortion when in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment or her life or health is in danger. This is the only legal excuse of an abortion in Kenya yet numerous cases of unsafe abortions are still being reported in Kenya. A report from the ministry of health reveals 465,000 women had abortions during the year 2012 with majority of this number having engaged in unsafe conditions despite of the new constitution in place.
Dr. Elizabeth Kimani of the African Population and Health Research Center says despite the safety concerns there is resistance in Kenya to addressing the problem thus the reason as to why despite the laws that are put in place the number of women who indulge in unsafe abortion is high in the country.
Unsafe abortion which is the most considered way by many in the country comes with various health hazards and complications to those women who use these methods. According to a report released last year by the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights found unsafe abortions caused up to 50 percent of maternal deaths in Kenya. It is said some of the methods women were using to terminate pregnancies included taking traditional herbs or
Abortion debate has dominated the thoughts of Kenya since antiquity.
This is an issue that has been there in Kenya since time in memorial because it began in the traditional era before colonialism.
Most communities in the past considered it a taboo to bear a child before marriage. Incase a woman fell pregnant before marriage the community’s solution to this problem was abortion of the child. That was just an example to show that abortion has very deep roots in our country not to forget that most Kenyans stick to their traditions.
The new constitution of Kenya adopted in the year 2010 establishes that a pregnant woman or adolescent may choose to have an abortion when in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment or her life or health is in danger. This is the only legal excuse of an abortion in Kenya yet numerous cases of unsafe abortions are still being reported in Kenya. A report from the ministry of health reveals 465,000 women had abortions during the year 2012 with majority of this number having engaged in unsafe conditions despite of the new constitution in place.
Dr. Elizabeth Kimani of the African Population and Health Research Center says despite the safety concerns there is resistance in Kenya to addressing the problem thus the reason as to why despite the laws that are put in place the number of women who indulge in unsafe abortion is high in the country.
Unsafe abortion which is the most considered way by many in the country comes with various health hazards and complications to those women who use these methods. According to a report released last year by the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights found unsafe abortions caused up to 50 percent of maternal deaths in Kenya. It is said some of the methods women were using to terminate pregnancies included taking traditional herbs or
References: 1. Kenya Human and Rights Commission: www.khrc.co.ke 2. African Population and Health Center’s fact sheet issue no.1 on August 2013 3. African Population and Health Center policy brief 4. Family Health Options Kenya 5. Standard Digital News 27th August 2013 6. Capital FM Kenya by Simon Ndonga 21st August 2013 7. The Star News paper 27th August 2013 report by Henry Kibira 8. Kenya Ministry of Health www.publichealth.co.ke 9. World Health Organization www.womenonwaves.org