Abortion debate rages in Kenya

BY BERNARD MOMANYI
Updated : 178days and 23 hours and 12 minutes ago

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NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 8 - Medical practitioners are urging those opposed to the proposed Constitution because of hard line positions on abortion to take consideration of pregnancy complications where doctors are allowed to save a mother’s life.

Dr Nehemiah Kimathi of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) says if the clause prohibiting all kinds of abortion is left to pass, it will lead to an increased number of deaths of mothers with pregnancy complications.

He said: “The inclusion of the clause will make life so difficult even in providing reproductive health services to the extent that in this country where we have made very good progress in the improvement of SRH programs,” he said.

He added: “This will drive us backwards, so that the gains we have made in terms of maternal health we could now slide backwards and get a little worse off than we are at this stage.” Dr Kimathi.

In an interview with Capital News, Dr Kimathi who is IPPF’s Technical Advisor on Safe Motherhood said healthcare providers will be left in a dilemma if such a clause is put in the constitution because doctors will be reluctant to attend to pregnancy complication-related cases for fear of being prosecuted for murder.

“So for me really is to plead with Members of Parliament to remove the clause from the constitution… the issue is not even legalising abortion. Let’s leave abortion in the criminal code where it has been, not in the constitution,” he said.

“We plead with the members of parliament that we should remove the clause from the constitution, because it can be regulated by an Act of Parliament which is much easier to deal with,” he added.

Churches have vowed to lobby their followers to reject the proposed constitution unless an amendment is made, leading to Saturday’s remarks by Prime Minister Raila Odinga who urged church leaders to avoid scuttling the constitution-making process.

Comments (16) posted

Musa (June 09th, 2010, 11:34 PM)

Why dont we just legalize drugs since people will overdose.....abortonists are crazy in my opinion

Evelyne (March 29th, 2010, 4:11 AM)

Whoever is still fighting against abortion in Kenya is so detached from life and reality!!! It's legality is not the issue anymore! Thousands of women are dying every year from complications arising from unsafe abortion let alone any other kind of abortion. It's a fact that so many women are ready to take the risk. Meanwhile the situation takes toll on the already limited resources available in Kenyan hospitals that would otherwise be used for other emergencies were abortion legal. Wake up people....it's no longer a moral or legal issue we already are loosing lives as it is!!!

roy (March 24th, 2010, 8:51 PM)

just because most of us are stealing it doesn't make stealing a virtue.

wamz (March 17th, 2010, 1:24 PM)

My school mate in high school was impregnated by her own father, kicked out by her mother and her only relative who feels any compasion is her old grandmother who herself lives in abject poverty. Tell her that her pregnancy was God's gift and that its fair that she should deliver this child. I think people should stop this holier than though attitude they have and look at the facts as they are. To say that we are aping the west is b.s. This is local problem we brought on ourselves. We are the ones who dump our preganant girlfriends and stigmatise our pregnant sisters. one beejaychester says "It seems to me the country is asking the wrong question ? You can't say something has life before it could support itself for a reasonable time. The real question that should be asked is "Why do women make this choice of abortion ? and can it be abused ?... These are the questions to ask. If choice can be abused then it should measures should be in place to discourage that or in repeated abuse cases proper correction policy taken." I think that is the most rational argument I have heard since this whole issue came up.

nt (March 12th, 2010, 3:07 PM)

This is a woman speaking, and responding to 'hope'. Its not a man vs woman issue, its an issue of supporting life or death. Some probably 0.0001% of conceptions become cancerous so that argument is irrelevant. If we are debating legalising abortion, then let's call it what it is.. legalising murder. And even worse we are killing human beings that cannot defend themselves. Where has humanity gone, if we have decided that we will ignore the rights of the defenseless. Yes there are all these scenarios where the choice is more difficult to make, but nonetheless we should learn to stop being afraid to live...life is about making tough decisions, not taking the easy way out just because it suits us, especially where another life is involved. Women, wake up, this is your time to chose the lives of your children. We set the tone of society, if we say yes to abortion, we say yes to all kinds of other social problems. Life begins at conception, thats not a debate its a fact, ask any doctor. Abortion is murder. If you're going to support it, at least call yourself what you are...

Anthony Odhiambo (March 09th, 2010, 12:41 PM)

Hello Good people..This is not a equstion of Women and their rights...But it is a qustuion of Human right. and if we a gree that its a question of human right then..The mother and the unborn child are all human being and all have a right. I here some talk about the church opinion...it is more than that but it on Comon law.

Vial (March 09th, 2010, 10:21 AM)

If the church is scared of loopholes then why use a blanket statement that life begins at conception n yet they know even cancerous growths begin as conceptions! Why cant they accept that this matter be left out of the Constitution n be dealt with in An Act of parliamnet. Dont the care for their congregation who suffrs from miscarriages and so forth!?!! Wisdom is what they need n to stop HYPOCRISY!!

Eric Otieno, Dadaab (March 08th, 2010, 11:38 PM)

The term "Abortion" is not going to be clear and complete to many without adding the words "spontaneous" or "Induced". This will address our sisters who 'miscarry'as we commonly know, despite desiring the baby, due to illness, trauma,cervical incompetence, etc.It's not only about those who want to "remove" the pregnancy illegally.

peter Kariuki (March 08th, 2010, 3:56 PM)

There should be some sombreness dealing with abortion.Its the loophole that the clause will cause that the christian are against togeter with the assumption that life is under the control of the bonafide woman.Life is God's and He's the one entirely responsible for taking it away.The medical profession can neither grant an inch of it to justify their opinions in taking it away.

hope (March 08th, 2010, 3:24 PM)

The doctors have spoken. NOT ALL CONCEPTIONS LEAD TO LIFE. GET THIS FACT INTO THINE HEAD! Giving a cancerous growth the same rights of a mother is absurd!!! Can they stop this insanity.Definition of when life begins should not be in Constitution. EVER WONDERED MAYBE THATS Y BIBLE DID NOT DEFINE LIFE TO BEGIN AT CONCEPTION?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im disgusted by men tallking against this as if they dont have a care for the women in their lives.

imelda (March 08th, 2010, 3:21 PM)

you know what i would rather have a safe haven for my kid/friend/sister and even myself to go for an abortion rather than some back door quack. abortion should be legalized and that's my opinion. i guess its worse when people justify it using their religious backgrounds. easily forgetting we do not all believe in their religion..this is not a registered Christian/Islam state dammit!

Verity (March 08th, 2010, 3:10 PM)

Let the definition of when life begins be in An Act of Parliament since there is no consensus over this matter. The church should not divide us on this matter. They must also listen to the voice of the woman who is also forming part of their congregation!

Bradley Kisia (March 08th, 2010, 1:56 PM)

The clause should be reduced to 'life begins at conception'; if it has to be modified, then follow the current constitution on this where more than one doctor is required to allow for the killing of a human being.

fred (March 08th, 2010, 1:01 PM)

Definition of when life begins should not be in the constituion coz it will criminalize even those women who suffer miscarriages a.k.a spontaneous abortions. These could be our sisters, wives and daughters. Why crminalize them. The church should know that these poor women also form part of their congregation and their lives must be safeguarded. Who will they preach to if this woman are dead?