The Terrifying Global Reach of the American Anti-Abortion Movement

Conservatives have not limited their attack on reproductive rights to the United States. They’ve been busy imposing their will on other countries, too—with disastrous consequences for millions of poor women.

Jodi Enda
March 18, 2024

Because Editar Ochieng knew the three young men, she didn’t think twice when they beckoned her into a house in an isolated area near the Nairobi River. One was like a brother; the other two were her neighbors in the sprawling Kenyan slum of Kibera.

Ochieng did not know the woman who performed her abortion. She and a friend scoured Nairobi until they found her, an untrained practitioner who worked in the secrecy of her home and charged a fraction of what a medical professional would. Mostly, what Ochieng remembers is the agony when this stranger inserted something into her vagina and “pierced” her womb. “It was really very painful. Really, really, really painful,” she told me. Afterward, Ochieng said, she cut up her mattress to use in place of sanitary pads, which she could not afford. She was 16 years old.

Continued: https://newrepublic.com/article/179485/american-anti-abortion-movement-terrifying-global-reach


Yes, you can legally get an abortion in Kenya

Monday, October 09, 2023

Samson Mwita, a clinical officer, was in the middle of an abortion procedure at Mwera Medical Centre in Eastlands, Nairobi, when police officers burst into the operating room.

“The patient I was operating on was a minor of 16 years who had been defiled. Since she was in her second trimester, I had initiated an induction but the police officers interrupted me. They stopped the procedure and  told me that what I was doing was against the law,” Mr Mwita tells Nation.Africa.

Continued: https://nation.africa/kenya/news/gender/yes-you-can-legally-get-abortion-in-kenya-4394734


Kenya: The New Cold War Over Access to Safe Abortion in Kenya

22 SEPTEMBER 2022
Inter Press Service

By Stephanie Musho and Ritah Anindo Obonyo

Nairobi — Fatuma is a 24 year old girl from Korogocho, an informal settlement
in Nairobi. She died in December 2021, from complications arising from an
unsafe abortion. Her friend and a few of her neighbors found her bleeding
profusely and unable to move. They rushed her to the hospital. Unfortunately,
she died before she could see the doctor.

Unfortunately, Fatuma's story is common for girls and women in Kenya. In fact,
at least 7 of them die every day from complications arising from unsafe
abortion. Worse still, is that with current trends - where 700 girls between
the ages of 10 and 19 are getting pregnant daily; the harrowing statistics on
abortions are likely to be worse. If Fatuma knew where she could access safe
abortion services, she would not have died.

Continued: https://allafrica.com/stories/202209230002.html


What happens when abortion is banned? Lessons from around the world

As the U.S. Supreme Court looks set to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that established the right to abortion, campaigners for abortion access from Africa to Latin America say the move could have devastating consequences

by Nita Bhalla and Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Monday, 30 May 2022

NAIROBI/BOGOTA - As soon as Kenyan housewife Ann found out she was pregnant in September last year, she knew having the child was out of the question.

For years, the 27-year-old had been a victim of domestic violence: her husband beat her routinely, denied her money to feed their three children, and had sexual relationships with other women.

Continued: https://news.trust.org/item/20220530084414-0ps54


There’s need to sensitise, train healthcare providers on emergency abortion services

May 19, 2021
By Evelyn Odhiambo

African laws largely restrict abortion with only 3 countries; Tunisia, Zambia, and South Africa where abortion is broadly permitted even upon a woman’s request.

In many African countries, abortion is restricted with a provision like: when the life of the mother is in danger or case of an emergency. Kenya is among the many African countries where abortion restricted under article 26 (4) of the 2010 constitution.

Continued: https://citizentv.co.ke/blogs/opinion-theres-need-to-sensitise-healthcare-providers-on-emergency-abortion-services-11490299/


Healthcare providers in Kenya cautiously welcome removal of Global Gag rule

23 February 2021
Sarah Kimani,  SABCNews

Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare providers in Kenya have cautiously welcomed the removal of the Global Gag rule, an American policy that prohibits foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who receive US global health assistance from facilitating or promoting abortion.

Also known as the Mexican City policy and first adopted by the then President Ronald Reagan’s administration in 1984, it has been repealed by every Democratic administration and reinstated by every Republican one since then.

Continued: https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/healthcare-providers-in-kenya-cautiously-welcome-removal-of-global-gag-rule/


Battery acid, cassava sticks and clothes hangers: We must end the global gag rule

Critics say the policy has led to deep cuts in funding for family planning

Nelly Munyasia, Womba Wanki
2 Dec 2020

On 23 January 2017, United States President Donald Trump issued an expansion of the Mexico City Policy, or “global gag rule” (GGR), last implemented under George W Bush. The GGR blocks US global health assistance to any foreign nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that perform abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or threat to the life of the woman; provide counselling on, or referrals for, abortion; or lobby for the liberalisation of abortion law. This stance is enforced even if the NGOs use non-US funds for these aspects of healthcare.

She Decides — a global women’s rights movement, of which we’re both members — was a direct response to the reinstatement of the GGR and its devastating effect on the lives and freedoms of women and girls. We are, therefore, encouraged by early indications that president-elect Joe Biden is expected to rescind this devastating rule as one of the new administration’s first acts.

Continued: https://mg.co.za/africa/2020-12-02-battery-acid-cassava-sticks-and-clothes-hangers-we-must-end-the-global-gag-rule/


In Kenya, alarm over rise in teen pregnancies during pandemic

Issued on: 03/08/2020

Sixteen-year-old Linnet covers her face bashfully, mumbling into her hands as she recounts how she met the young man who bought her fries and gave her money, before leaving her pregnant and facing even greater poverty than before.

She is one of thousands of teenagers who fall pregnant every year in Kenya, a problem experts fear is worsening during the coronavirus pandemic, with some girls pushed into transactional sex to survive while others have more sex as they stay home from school.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/20200803-in-kenya-alarm-over-rise-in-teen-pregnancies-during-pandemic


Keeping women’s health essential despite Covid-19 shortages

Keeping women's health essential despite Covid-19 shortages

Opinion by Anu Kumar
Thu May 7, 2020
(Video: Fear, panic as women navigate pregnancy during a pandemic, 02:59)

(CNN)The world is changing daily as a result of Covid-19. Like millions of people, I now have a virtual workday. I am fortunate -- I'm safe and comfortable at home with my family in North Carolina.

Although living socially distanced and not knowing when life will return to normal is a struggle, I am comforted by the knowledge of the frontline workers I work with around the world working to alleviate some of the harm being inflicted on those living in dense and underserved communities.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/06/opinions/covid-19-womens-health-abortion-access-kumar/


Can She make her safe choice in times of Covid-19?

Can She make her safe choice in times of Covid-19?

14 April 2020
Author: Saskia Hüsken | Function: Senior Technical Advisor

In early March, as we marked International Women’s Day and SheDecides Day, with various marches and community outreach activities for women’s rights, the Covid-19 virus started to spread across the world. Now that infection rates are soaring, death figures are rising in Asia, Europe, and the US, an increasing number of countries, also in Africa, are now in complete or partial lock-down. The need to protect women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and their access to safe abortion services becomes more dire than ever. Not only is abortion regularly marked as "non-essential", for example in several states in the US, but the pressure on service providers worldwide is severely increased due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Since mid-2018, Rutgers is implementing the programme She Makes Her Safe Choice, funded by the Dreamfund of the Nationale Postcode Loterij and in partnership with DKT International and several other partners. The programme applies a multi-component approach and works to prevent unsafe abortions in different geographic locations and at various levels, with complementary activities on Supply, Demand, and Support. While it is early days and everyone is struggling how to deal with the Covid-19 crisis, it is clear that also for the She Makes Her Safe Choice programme, impacts will be felt and the reality on the ground will forever be changed.

Continued: https://www.rutgers.international/news/blog-archive/can-she-make-her-safe-choice-times-covid-19?destination=SafeChoiceNews%3F