Cleric in push for safe abortion in hope to end premature deaths

By Nathan Ochunge
Nov 13, 2023

When his name is mentioned, Reverend Johnson Bukachi conjures the image of a controversial preacher. He has been advocating for access to safe reproductive health services, such as safe abortion and family planning, in the conservative setting of Khwisero sub-county.

Reverend Bukachi, 69 and affiliated with the Church of God (East Africa), has undertaken a courageous journey in his quest to ensure women and girls of reproductive age can access these services without discrimination.

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/reproductive-health/article/2001485284/cleric-in-push-for-safe-abortion-in-hope-to-end-premature-deaths

13.11.2023

Kenya Demographic Health Survey

Volunteer Restoration of Hope Counselors Association

Kenya – Surviving incest, abortions: Kakamega’s struggle to protect girls

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

By Shaban Makokha

In the tranquil heart of Navakholo, Kakamega, a grim narrative unfolds – once shadowed by the specters of incest, teenage pregnancies, and the haunting tales of unsafe abortion.

Young girls find themselves entangled in pregnancies thrust upon them by older men, some of whom are guardians and relatives.

Continued: https://nation.africa/kenya/news/gender/surviving-incest-abortions-kakamega-s-struggle-to-protect-girls-4418232

Kenya – Meet the rural champions helping women combat unsafe abortion

By Nathan Ochunge
Oct. 23, 2023

Angela (real name withheld) got married at 19 after sitting her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination in Navakholo, Kakamega County.

A few months later, her husband secured a job in Nairobi, and for five years he never returned home. “I became lonely and got another man who impregnated me after six months of dating,” said Angela.

For the sake of her marriage, Angela sought the services of an elderly midwife to terminate the two-month pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/reproductive-health/article/2001483907/meet-the-rural-champions-helping-women-combat-unsafe-abortion

Women Deliver calls for abortion within universal health coverage

By Sara Jerving
20 July 2023

Including abortion in universal health coverage was one of the main messages emerging from the Women Deliver conference this week in Kigali, Rwanda.

The conference, which ends Thursday, showcased stories of countries that have expanded access, and speakers called for abortion to be treated as a simple medical procedure.

Continued: https://www.devex.com/news/women-deliver-calls-for-abortion-within-universal-health-coverage-105934

Kenya – Experts raise alarm over unsafe abortions among teenagers

By Mercy Kahenda
Feb. 6, 2023

After the initial shock and denial of finding out she was pregnant at 15 years, Branice, a resident of Musuro village in Baringo walked to Marigat Hospital to procure an abortion. Instead, she took counselling and enrolled in an Antenatal (ANC) clinic.

Once on her own, however, she opted to terminate the six weeks pregnancy as she feared she would drop out of school, and face the stigma that comes with teen pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/health-science/article/2001466566/experts-raise-alarm-over-unsafe-abortions-among-teenagers

06.02.2023

News

African Population and Health Research

Hope for access to abortion in Kenya

A landmark court case could help activists seeking to revise Kenya's reproductive health policy.

Munyaradzi Makoni

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00693-6
WORLD REPORT| VOLUME 399, ISSUE 10334, P1456, APRIL 16, 2022.

The roll-out of a policy to promote and improve the reproductive health of
Kenyans has been suspended following protests from activists calling for
protection for patients who seek abortion services and the medical personnel
who provide them. On April 6, the Ministry of Health said that a new draft of
Kenya's Reproductive Health Policy 2022–32, which did not make any provision
for abortion, will be produced within 45 days, with civil society given an
opportunity to propose changes.

The decision follows a ruling on March 25 by Reuben Nyakundi, a High Court
judge in Malindi, who declared abortion-related arrests and prosecution
illegal, concluding that abortion care is a fundamental right under the
Constitution of Kenya, adding that protecting access to abortion affects vital
constitutional values, including dignity, autonomy, equality, and bodily
integrity. Although the Constitution allows it, Kenya's 1963 Penal Code still
criminalises all abortion care.

Continued: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00693-6/fulltext?dgcid=raven_jbs_etoc_email

Opinion: Time to put abortion top of the SRHR agenda

Opinion: Time to put abortion top of the SRHR agenda

By Anu Kumar
09 December 2019

Just a couple of weeks ago, I attended the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, which marked the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994. The trip was particularly meaningful to me, having been at the Cairo meeting where 179 governments made women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights a priority goal of global development.

The anti-rights opposition movement called it “the abortion summit,” but in truth, it was far from it. In my opinion, that’s a shame, because we — the global health, sexual and reproductive health, and development fields — need an abortion summit.

Continued: https://www.devex.com/news/opinion-time-to-put-abortion-top-of-the-srhr-agenda-96151

Kenya restores standards and guidelines for comprehensive reproductive health, including abortion

Kenya restores standards and guidelines for comprehensive reproductive health, including abortion

IPAS
News | Friday, June 21, 2019

Earlier this month, Kenya made progress toward advancing women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights: The High Court ruled to restore the standards and guidelines for comprehensive reproductive health, including abortion. The S&Gs were originally instated in 2012 but withdrawn the following year. The reinstatement will allow providers to offer safe abortion care when the health or life of a woman is in danger, in cases of emergency and for survivors of sexual violence. Ipas Africa Alliance partnered with the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) on a case in 2015 challenging the withdrawal. CRR filed the case on behalf of an adolescent who died after suffering from complications from an unsafe abortion. The Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya and human rights activists were also part of the coalition supporting the challenge.

“I am glad that Ipas was able to join other partners in Kenya to support the litigation strategy initiated by CRR,” said Judith Okal, Ipas Africa Alliance senior policy advisor. Okal was an advocate for the petitioner when CRR filed the case and joined Ipas after it was filed.

The court found that the Director of Medical Services and the Ministry of Health had violated the rights of Kenyan women and girls by arbitrarily withdrawing the guidelines, creating uncertainty about the status of legal abortion and discouraging medical providers from performing abortions for fear of criminal prosecution.

For more information, contact media@ipas.org.

Source: https://www.ipas.org/news/2019/June/kenya-restores-standards-and-guidelines-for-comprehensive-reproductive-health-including-abortion

21.06.2019

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News

abortion guidelines

Center for Reproductive Rights

CRR

Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya

Ipas Africa Alliance

Judith Okal

Standards and Guidelines for Reducing Morbidity and Mortality from Unsafe Abortion

Africa: International Agencies Worry US Aid May Be Linked to Abortion Ban

International Agencies Worry US Aid May Be Linked to Abortion Ban
May 16, 2017
Zoe Leoudaki

A measure called the “Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Mexico City Policy” will likely affect the lives of many women in developing countries.

The memorandum was among the first executive orders signed by Donald Trump after he became president of the United States. It changes government policy about the way foreign aid is given to other countries.

With the order, Trump brought back a rule that bans the use of foreign aid by international organizations that support abortion. It is called the Mexico City Policy.

Continued at source: Voice of America: http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/global-gag-rule-and-african-women/3849091.html

Trump’s Presidency Could Be Life-Threatening to Women All Over the World

The next president will be able to restrict women's access not only to abortion but also to other health care services.
By Jill Filipovic
Dec 22, 2016

For millions of women, life is about to get more brutal, and potentially shorter, because of a president they didn’t elect in a country they’ve never been.

Much attention has been paid to the potential impact of a Donald Trump presidency on American women and minority groups in the United States — the threat posed to female citizens by a president who brags about sexual assault and suggests women should be punished for abortion, the potential infringements on the rights of Muslims and immigrants. But it’s not just people within U.S. borders who have reason to worry. For women around the world, a Donald Trump/Mike Pence administration spells a policy of active hostility to reproductive rights and using U.S. dollars to hold other countries hostage to American abortion politics. For women who aren’t American and who had no say in this election, Trump and Pence are going to have an awful lot of influence over their futures — and it’s not going to be good. Some of them likely won’t live through it.

[continued at link]
Source: Cosmopolitan