Kenya’s reproductive health crisis will not be solved by morality

Kenya is facing a sexual and reproductive health crisis that will not be solved by morality and religion, as suggested by anti-choice groups led by the ultra-conservative advocacy organizations like CitizenGO. We must instead focus on legislation aligned with the Constitution that provides for these rights.

The Ministry of Health has reported that around 700 girls become pregnant each day. I was one of them. I had a child at 19 years old. While I was able to stay in school and obtain a law degree, many pregnant girls drop out of school and are ‘ripe' candidates for early – and forced — marriage. Alarmingly, the same report indicates that at least 98 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 contract HIV every week.

On the extreme end, the African Population Health and Research Centre reported that 2,600 women and/or girls die in Kenya annually from complications arising from unsafe abortions. This translates to a minimum of seven deaths a day.

They resort to crude methods like drinking bleach, using metal hangers to perforate their uteri or go to quacks to terminate their pregnancies.

These preventable deaths occur despite the Constitution providing for three instances where abortion is permitted. First, is if, in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is a need for emergency treatment. Second, if the life or health of the mother is in danger; or third, if it is permitted by any other written law.

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government arbitrarily withdrew the standards and guidelines of safe abortion in the country; and directed all service providers not to provide safe abortion.

This was challenged in the courts in the landmark JMM case, where the court ruled that the Ministry of Health in the withdrawal of the guidelines acted illegally and directed them to reinstate the much-needed guidelines.

Earlier this year, the High Court sitting in Malindi reaffirmed the constitutional right to safe abortion in Constitutional Petition E009 of 2020. Nonetheless, police continue to carry out arbitrary arrests.

Service providers and patients are, therefore, reluctant to seek these safe alternatives that the law allows for fear of harassment and imprisonment. The fire is fuelled further by the spread of misinformation about safe abortion. This goes against the liberty that such groups claim to advance.

This must change.

Kenya must institute comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) to equip teenagers with the correct information to make informed decisions about their bodies, health and lives. Groups that fight against CSE claim it will encourage adolescents to have sex and be promiscuous.

Government statistics show that on average, teenagers become sexually active at age 15. Preaching abstinence among the youth is good but not enough. They must be equipped with life-saving information to make informed choices.

We also need to support legislation that will provide sexual and reproductive rights and health to everyone. But unfortunately, anti-choice groups have worked tirelessly to challenge proposed laws like Reproductive Health Bill 2014 and the Reproductive Health Bill 2019 that would make assisted reproduction – and other sexual and reproductive health services - accessible and available to all Kenyans.

Right now, a full round of In vitro fertilization (IVF) costs an average of Sh500,000 (approx. $4,800). Compare this against the $1,250 per capita income of the country. It is indeed unaffordable to Wanjiku — that is the average Kenyan citizen — and so it remains a preserve of the rich.

At the regional level, some groups are lobbying against the current East Africa Community Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill 2021 which is on the floor of the East Africa Legislative Assembly. Accordingly, the crisis at hand is perpetuated. This undoubtedly casts aspersions on groups like CitizenGO whose purported mandate is protecting the family. Further, for an organisation that waves the banner of Christ, it is unfortunate to see CitizenGO bullying and insulting the legislators who support sexual and reproductive health and rights.

This harassment is not only ungodly but also illegal. It is curious to note that though claiming to fight for African values, the organisation is founded by a white European man; it is headquartered in Madrid and has no Africans on its board of directors.

Opposition groups argue that sexual and reproductive health and rights are a western export to Africa. However, an independent study conducted by Mozilla Foundation found that Western organisations may be paying Kenyans to spread misinformation on social media.

Some people also may argue that the social foundations of the law are derived from culture and religion. Nonetheless, Kenya has chosen to codify its laws as distinct from the religions and cultural norms that have informed it.

There is not one religion or one culture from amongst the multiple ones that exist that can claim supremacy over the other or over the law. However, anyone living within the boundaries of the Republic is subject to the laws of the land; with the Constitution being the supreme of these all.

The Constitution provides for the freedom of religion and belief. However, the Constitution also states that Kenya is a secular State. Opposition campaign groups must therefore operate under the rule of law. It is time that we all advanced objective and rational arguments over subjective moral arguments for the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Additionally, the new administration in Kenya must curtail religious extremism of any kind and hold organisations, including Western ones, accountable for their violations.

Stephanie Musho is a Christian, a human rights lawyer and an Aspen New Voices Senior Fellow. She is the Host of the New Cold War series, a podcast that investigates and exposes illegal and unethical activities of the anti-SRHR movement.