New ruling on safe abortion paves way to lower maternal deaths

How latest ruling on safe abortion will help address maternal deaths. [iStockphoto] A High Court ruling this week declaring safe abortion a constitutional right has massive implications for hundreds of thousands of women and girls with unintended pregnancies. The ruling stems back to a ban arbitrarily placed on reproductive health care services provided by Marie Stopes International Kenya. A few months after joining Amnesty International Kenya in 2018, I found myself in a tense, closed-door meeting with leaders from the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network, and the Centre for Reproductive Rights. For two hours, we debated the ethics of reproductive rights, questioned the legality of the Marie Stopes ban, and weighed its potential harm to thousands who depend on their services. In true Kenyan fashion, we found common ground and drafted a joint statement affirming that no one should die or suffer during an abortion and calling for the Marie Stopes ban to be lifted. A neutral party prepared the statement, but the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association never signed it. In 2018, we missed a chance to collectively advance the right to safe abortion. Five years later, anti-reproductive health rights groups petitioned the courts to stop Marie Stopes from operating nationwide. This week, Justice Chacha Mwita, recipient of the 2025 CB Madan Award, overturned three of the 2018 government directives. He ruled that the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council and the Kenya Film and Classification Board had no legal authority to force Marie Stopes to transfer post-abortion patients or ban public advertising. Similarly, the Health Ministry's Director of Medical Services lacked the mandate to prohibit the NGO from providing post-abortion care. The three government agencies had jointly contravened the constitutional right to abortion. According to our courts, the blanket ban was discriminatory, overly broad, and failed to affirm Kenya's strict abortion laws. By criminalising a right anchored in our law, more worryingly, it may have driven countless women and girls with unintended pregnancies towards unprofessional and unregulated back street clinics, thus endangering their lives. This ruling is part of a broader legal trend that affirms the constitutional right to safe abortion. The 2017 Health Act expanded access by recognising trained providers such as doctors, nurses, and midwives. In 2019, courts upheld the right of sexual violence survivors to emergency abortion care and reinstated the withdrawn Standards and Guidelines for reducing maternal deaths from unsafe abortion. In 2022, a Malindi court warned law enforcement agencies that arbitrary arrests of qualified doctors or patients are unlawful and punishable. Additionally, the availability of medication-based abortion drugs has further widened safe options when used responsibly. This week's landmark ruling reaffirms the centrality of pregnancy and safe abortion for the right to privacy, dignity, and life. No woman with an unintended pregnancy from rape or accidental conception should be forced into motherhood. No one should die or suffer due to an abortion. This judgment is even more significant given the crisis we face. Nearly 792,694 abortions occurred in 2023. With an induced abortion rate of 57.3 per 1,000 women, Kenya is among the highest in East Africa. Yet only 18 per cent of primary health facilities offer post-abortion care due to poor funding and prioritisation. If nothing changes, an estimated 2,600 women will die from unsafe abortions, and 21,000 will face complications in 2026. Pregnant mothers must not be compelled to continue unwanted pregnancies or undertake an abortion. To ensure informed consent and safe sex, public and private reproductive health providers must accelerate science-based, comprehensive sex education for us all. Law enforcement agencies must not be misled into criminalising patients or health workers for seeking safe abortion services. Unsafe abortions remain one of the major threats to women and girls globally. It is a major cause of maternal deaths and leads to physical and emotional health complications. Justice Mwita's judgement brings Kenya closer to a society that respects access to informed, affordable, respectful, and safe abortion care for all who need it.-irungu.houghton@amnesty.or.ke

New ruling on safe abortion paves way to lower maternal deaths

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