Kenya: Health providers must be protected by the law adequately

Health providers must be protected by the law adequately
By Evelyne Opondo
Published Sat, November 4th 2017

On October 19, the Court of Appeal put an end to Jackson Namunya Tali’s nearly nine years in prison. In the momentous decision, the three-judge bench ruled that mere suspicion, however strong, is not probative of an offence in the criminal justice system.

Tali, a trained nurse who operated a clinic in the outskirts of Nairobi, was arrested in 2009 and accused of assisting a woman procure an unsafe abortion that consequently led to her death. Rather than being charged with the offence of unlawful abortion, he was charged with murder, convicted and imprisoned at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.

Continued at source: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001259242/health-providers-must-be-protected-by-the-law-adequately

Kenya: Nurse Acquitted in a Pregnancy Complications Case

Nurse Acquitted in a Pregnancy Complications Case

10.19.17 - (PRESS RELEASE) Today the Court of Appeal of Kenya acquitted Jackson Tali, a registered nurse who was arrested and sentenced to death on murder charges.

Mr. Tali, who has been in custody at the G.K Kamiti Maximum Prison since July 2009 was convicted and sentenced to death in September 2014 after a young woman presenting with pregnancy complications at his clinic died in his care. Mr. Tali was represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Continued at source: https://www.reproductiverights.org/press-room/nurse-acquitted-in-a-pregnancy-complications-case

The Law, Trials and Imprisonment for Abortion in Kenya

The Law, Trials and Imprisonment for Abortion in Kenya
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28 April 2017
International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion

Photo credit: KELIN A photo taken from the 2016 #Justice2Health forum

by Alice E Finden

This report summarises the law and policy on abortion in Kenya and cases of trials and imprisonment for abortion between 2004 and 2017.

“Laws that criminalise abortion but without concomitantly articulating clearly the grounds for lawful abortion… unduly deter healthcare providers from providing health services to women even where abortion is lawful. Equally, such laws create misperceptions about abortion as conduct that is criminal at all times.” (Charles Ngwena) [1]

The above quote sums up perfectly the unresolved state of abortion law in Kenya, and the resulting limited access to safe abortion in the country. Abortion is spoken to by the 1970 Penal Code which criminalises it, and the 2010 Constitution which makes exceptions to this criminalisation. The lack of clarity and transparency with regard to the circumstances in which abortion is legal greatly contributes to Kenya’s high maternal mortality ratio from complications of unsafe abortion.

Source: International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion: http://mailchi.mp/safeabortionwomensright/feature-the-law-trials-and-imprisonment-for-abortion-in-kenya-28-april-2017?e=3fa4c971b0