The Guardian: Kenya split over campaign to give women the right to safe abortions
“…In Kenya, where abortion is illegal in most cases, and not all women have access to contraception, unregulated — and unsafe — abortions … are common. More than 40% of pregnancies in Kenya are not planned, according to a study from 2012, the latest year for which data is available, by the health ministry and the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC). And while the Kenyan constitution permits abortion only when a woman’s life or health is in danger and emergency treatment is necessary, the study found in the same year that nearly half a million abortions were carried out. … A step towards [relaxing restrictions on abortion] was taken last year when Kenya’s high court ruled that some rape survivors can terminate their pregnancies. … But the campaign has provoked a backlash from conservative groups in Kenya, a country where 85% of the population identifies as Christian…” (Hervey, 3/17).