As the US supreme court threatens to undo 49 years of access to safe and legal terminations, five women who died because of bans on abortion stand as warnings of what is at stake globally
Joe Parkin Daniels, Sarah Johnson, Weronika Strzyżyńska, Kaamil Ahmed and Mercy Kahenda
Sat 7 May 2022
[Stories about:]
Savita Halappanavar, Ireland
Olga Reyes, Nicaragua
‘Izabela’, Poland
‘Manuela’, El Salvador
‘Mildred’, Kenya
By Gardy Chacha
April 21st 2022
Prof MOSES OBIMBO explains the danger behind unsafe abortions and why
many women opt to take this route.
Why did you go into Obstetrics and Gynaecology?
Women have a great impact on the health and well-being of humanity. It is women
who carry pregnancies. Every human being alive today is here through a woman.
My interest has always been to make a woman’s health a priority because she not
only has a direct impact on us now but also has an effect on the progeny of the
next generation.
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.
Thursday, April 14, 2022
It usually begins with a chilling call, “Babe, we need to talk”. This is a clear signal that things are thick. After a period of careless fun with a ‘sponsor’, she misses her periods, then reality sets in.
Barely out of her teens and in the first or second year of college, she finds herself in an awkward situation: Should she procure an abortion or live with the stigma? Young, jobless and desperate, many university students prefer terminating the pregnancy.
Continued: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/the-abortion-crisis-in-kenyan-universities-3781820
BY CLAIRE WANJA
April 7, 2022
The Ministry of Health has suspended the launch of the Reproductive Health Policy 2022 –2032 and agreed to go back to the drawing board after pushback from a section of Civil Society.
The Ministry on Wednesday met with stakeholders from the reproductive health and human rights sector to discuss key reproductive healthcare interventions that members of civil society highlighted as missing or problematic.
Continued: https://www.kbc.co.ke/government-suspends-launch-of-reproductive-health-policy/
By Irungu Houghton
Apr 2nd 2022
A policy storm is brewing at just the right time. Last week, women and youth activists took to Nairobi streets to stop the launch of the Health Ministry’s Reproductive Health Policy 2020-2030. Two days later, Malindi High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi delivered an iconic ruling in favour of women’s right to abortion.
Coming five months before the election of 47+1 administrations, parties, political aspirants, and the public need to pay attention. The nation has fundamentally changed since the Health Ministry first drafted the Reproductive Health Policy (2020-2030) in 2018. For two solid years, Covid-19 subjected women and girls to a double-barrelled threat. Sexual and gender-based violence increased five-fold alongside rising living costs, joblessness and economic distress.
26 MARCH 2022
By Jemimah Mueni
Malindi — The High Court in Malindi has declared abortion related arrests and prosecution illegal.
The landmark ruling made on Friday now protects patients seeking abortion services as well as healthcare providers offering the services.
While making the ruling, the court noted that abortion care is a fundamental right under the Constitution of Kenya and that protecting access to abortion impacts vital Constitutional values, including dignity, autonomy, equality, and bodily integrity.
BY KBC CORRESPONDENT
March 23, 2022
Civil Society Groups in Nakuru have petitioned the Ministry of Health to reschedule the launch of the National Reproductive Health Policy 2022 – 2032 to allow for adequate public participation.
They indicated that though they had in November last year written to the Ministry requesting inclusion of civil society in the drafting and validation processes prior to roll-out of the draft Policy, the Ministry held validation meetings on February 2 and 17 2022, without involving them.
Continued: https://www.kbc.co.ke/lobby-groups-call-for-postponement-of-reproductive-health-policy-launch/
By MUTHONI WAWERU
March 22, 2022
NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 22 – Acting Director-General for Health Dr. Patrick Amoth says adequate measures on Post-Abortion Care (PAC) guidelines as well as capacity building in all counties, to be able to bring health care workers to speed on the quality of abortion care.
Abortion in Kenya is illegal but is permitted under specified circumstances, including danger to the life and health of the expectant mother and rape.
By MARION KITHI
Sat, Dec 18 2021
The number of women and girls from poor and marginalised communities seeking unsafe abortion services from traditional herbalists is on the rise in Kilifi.
According to the just-released report by The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), the use of traditional herbs for pregnancy termination has led to deaths among women and girls in the county.
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn