Kenya's Abortion Ban Fires Constitutional Debate
source: http://www.womensenews.org/story/abortion/100317/kenyas-abortion-ban-fires-constitutional-de...
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Earlier this month church leaders in Nairobi threatened to mobilize their faithful against a draft of a national constitution if it included language allowing abortions under any circumstance.
"We insist that the constitution must protect all human life, which begins at conception and ends at natural death," said Peter Karanja in a press statement. Karanja is secretary general of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, a powerful political player in this deeply religious country, which includes 24 Christian denominations.
Kenya currently outlaws abortion unless three doctors certify that the pregnancy puts a woman's life in immediate danger. In a sign of official acknowledgement of the widespread use of illegal abortions, however, post-abortion care is legal and available in hospitals.
A committee of experts charged with drafting the constitution had placed a provision allowing for abortions under certain emergencies in order to comply with international treaties on human rights that Kenya has signed. The provision would permit abortion if a pregnancy brought danger to life or health of the mother. Such phrasing could be interpreted to allow for the termination of pregnancies that pose both physical risks as well as psychological ones, such as when a woman has been raped.
Find out more in the report by Women's eNews reporter Zoe Alsop http://www.womensenews.org/story/abortion/100317/kenyas-abortion-ban-fires-const...
"We insist that the constitution must protect all human life, which begins at conception and ends at natural death," said Peter Karanja in a press statement. Karanja is secretary general of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, a powerful political player in this deeply religious country, which includes 24 Christian denominations.
Kenya currently outlaws abortion unless three doctors certify that the pregnancy puts a woman's life in immediate danger. In a sign of official acknowledgement of the widespread use of illegal abortions, however, post-abortion care is legal and available in hospitals.
A committee of experts charged with drafting the constitution had placed a provision allowing for abortions under certain emergencies in order to comply with international treaties on human rights that Kenya has signed. The provision would permit abortion if a pregnancy brought danger to life or health of the mother. Such phrasing could be interpreted to allow for the termination of pregnancies that pose both physical risks as well as psychological ones, such as when a woman has been raped.
Find out more in the report by Women's eNews reporter Zoe Alsop http://www.womensenews.org/story/abortion/100317/kenyas-abortion-ban-fires-const...
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