In 2010, Kenya adopted a new constitution that explicitly permits abortion when there is need, in the opinion of a trained health professional, for emergency treatment; if the life or health of the woman is in danger; or if it is permitted under any other written law. However, there are more than 2000 deaths and health complications among the 21,000 women who terminate pregnancies in Kenya each year.
No woman in Kenya will admit being in the 21,000 statistics. Reason being its still illegal and fear of stigma ;And not just that you will be termed immoral, killer mother, murderer and in case your church discovered you ever aborted you will be excommunicated.
On May 26th 2013, i watched a documentary/video on K24 TV dubbed Killer Mothers and i couldn't help noticing the bias. Even our Kenyan media, the fourth estate have not been left out in demonizing abortion. I Pauline Zawadi will never understand why Kenyans would rather bury their heads in the sand rather than talk about it. Because of this, post-abortion care is not available and where it is women delay getting treatment for abortion complications because they do not recognize the need for care soon enough or because they fear of stigma and hostility from health care providers.
So who do women turn to? To the Backstreet of-course.
In my adult life, i have lost count of the women who have shared with me about planning to abort, how to abort, their experiences after abortion etc. They range from married women to young girls to single mothers like me. Worse of all, abortion is a female problem. Men are never available at this time. They are actually the reason why women abort. In this country, contraceptives are available but so many men claim their women will go cold if they use them. Among young people, postinor 2 is just outside the corner and anytime anywhere.
In my world as a single mother struggling to feed one son, i am obviously not ready for another baby. I would imagine plus HIV and the stress. Okay let me not talk about myself. Racheal, Mercy, Jackie and Hellen are my friends. Rachel was gang raped at Kariobangi. She went to Eastleigh and did abort. Mercy had just received a Visa to the US, the pregnancy had come the wrong time. Jackie is married and has HIV, her sexual partner would not hear of him being a father with his HIV status! For Hellen, she is just a school girl born with HIV, she hates the fact that she has the virus. She does not tell any man about her status for fear of rejection, she does not bring the subject of condom use for fear of suspicion.
As for me, i will never judge, being in that shoe is not easy. I understand!
So who do women turn to? To the Backstreet of-course.
In my adult life, i have lost count of the women who have shared with me about planning to abort, how to abort, their experiences after abortion etc. They range from married women to young girls to single mothers like me. Worse of all, abortion is a female problem. Men are never available at this time. They are actually the reason why women abort. In this country, contraceptives are available but so many men claim their women will go cold if they use them. Among young people, postinor 2 is just outside the corner and anytime anywhere.
In my world as a single mother struggling to feed one son, i am obviously not ready for another baby. I would imagine plus HIV and the stress. Okay let me not talk about myself. Racheal, Mercy, Jackie and Hellen are my friends. Rachel was gang raped at Kariobangi. She went to Eastleigh and did abort. Mercy had just received a Visa to the US, the pregnancy had come the wrong time. Jackie is married and has HIV, her sexual partner would not hear of him being a father with his HIV status! For Hellen, she is just a school girl born with HIV, she hates the fact that she has the virus. She does not tell any man about her status for fear of rejection, she does not bring the subject of condom use for fear of suspicion.
As for me, i will never judge, being in that shoe is not easy. I understand!
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