Reinstate the guidelines on safe abortions
Sunday March 10 2019
By SAOYO TABITHA
On August 4, 2013, Mary Omollo (not her real name), a young house help, was frog-marched from her home in Nairobi’s Mathare slums to Muthaiga Police Station. She was accused of procuring an unsafe abortion.
Mary was humiliated in the full glare of the media. More importantly, she was kept in custody without any medical attention.
Kenyan activist's death in botched abortion spotlights 'killer' backstreet clinics
February 15, 2019
Nita Bhalla
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The death of a Kenyan activist due a botched abortion spotlights how thousands of pregnant women and girls are being driven by social stigma and restrictive policies to lose their lives in backstreet clinics, human rights campaigners said on Friday.
Caroline Mwatha disappeared on Feb. 6 in Dandora, a poor neighborhood in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, where she lived and campaigned against the abusive treatment of people in police custody, raising alarm among rights groups.
Kenya's high court to decide on safe abortion as teenager dies
July 12, 2018
Nita Bhalla
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenya’s high court is to decide if the government is responsible for the death of a teenager from a botched backstreet abortion, campaigners said on Thursday, in a case which could see safer abortions for thousands of women in the east African nation.
The girl - known by her initials JMM to protect her identity - was raped in 2014 at the age of 15. On discovering she was pregnant, she had a backstreet abortion that left her with injuries which eventually led to her death last month.
Doctor tells court when law allows abortion
Jul. 11, 2018
By CAROLE MAINA @mainacarole
The few instances where a doctor is forced to terminate a pregnancy include ectopic pregnancy or eclampsia, where a mother experiences high blood pressure, threatening her life and that of the unborn child. A gynaecologist yesterday explained to a bench of five judges situations where doctors are permitted to terminate pregnancies.
Dr Wahome Ngari of the Kenya Cristian Professional Forum supports the move by the ministry of Health to withdraw guidelines on safe abortion.
Continued: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/07/11/doctor-tells-court-when-law-allows-abortion_c1784993
Teenager at centre of Kenyan court case over botched abortion has died
Family of raped teenager are demanding government reissues guidance on safe terminations after crackdown puts lives at risk
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Tue 10 Jul 2018
A teenager whose botched abortion was at the centre of a high court case in Kenya has died.
The girl, who was raped aged 14 and then left with horrific injuries after a backstreet termination, had been the subject of a controversy over whether the Kenyan government was to blame for her death.
465,000 illegal abortions performed annually in Kenya
Written By: Hallyghan Agade
July 9, 2018
It is estimated that approximately 465,000 illegal abortions are performed in Kenya each year by untrained people.
Center for Reproductive Rights-CRC further says that one out of three girls under the age of 18 experience sexual violence and over 40 percent of pregnancies are unintentional.
However, health practitioners and health rights advocates are blaming Government and religious organizations saying that they are the greatest impediment to advocacy and information regarding Reproductive Health Rights in the country.
Continued: http://www.kbc.co.ke/465000-illegal-abortions-are-carried-out-annually-in-kenya/
What it is like to have unsafe abortion
Aug. 09, 2017
By JOHN MUCHANGI
Close to 21,000 Kenyan women end up in hospitals every year, with complications of unsafe abortions.
Some of them succumb. But apart from physical injuries, survivors endure years of emotional and psychological trauma, yet they cannot talk about it.
Talk on abortion remains highly emotive and stigmatised, but counsellors say silence is not golden. It can kill.
Which is why some community groups in Western Kenya now encourage women — and men — to freely share their unsafe abortion experiences.
Continued at source: The Star: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017/08/09/what-it-is-like-to-have-unsafe-abortion_c1610203
Nov 20, 2016, Al Jazeera
By Amanda Fisher
An upcoming battle in Kenyan courts could determine future access to safe, legal abortions for women there.
Nairobi, Kenya - In the wood-panelled interior of Nairobi's High Court, a battle is due to begin on December 15 that will determine whether hundreds of thousands of women each year are committing criminal acts.
The issue of abortion in Kenya has been mired in confusion and contention for the past six years.
In 2010, a new constitution was passed, heralded globally as a progressive foundational document for its principles of gender equality in parliament; freedom of media; and formation of an independent Human Rights and Equality Commission to investigate human rights abuses.
The trouble is that much of what was included has met resistance and debate.
[continued at link]
Source: Al Jazeera
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn