“Abortion is a crime.
Abortion is a crime.
Abortion is a bloody, bloody crime!!
Abortion is a crime.”
Do you remember this song by Alpha Blondy? I know many of you are familiar with this song and do support the musician to the uttermost. Many of you will say that you are for pro-life and that’s why you are against abortion but is safe abortion really a crime? Don’t you think the musician should have instead made a song about unsafe abortion being a crime and praise safe abortion?
I totally do not believe that just because you are opposed to safe abortion it automatically makes you pro-life. To me I actually think that your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, if all you want is a child born but not a child educated, if all you want is a child born but not a child housed and dressed and last but not least if you only care about the unborn child and ignore the mother’s health and future. To me that is not actually pro-life. It is actually being unfair.
Everyone has a right to total control over his or her body and can decide what to do with his/her body. Safe abortion is a right that I feel must not go away. It actually saves lives by preventing maternal deaths. If we were able to fit ourselves in the woman shoes then we would keep abortion safe and legal. Abortion should be left to be a personal decision to women and not a legal debate.
By making abortion illegal it won’t help in in stopping cases of abortion. It makes things worse. It will make people seek other alternative methods which are very dangerous to the health of the woman since it may lead to death and serious health complications. We need to support all women’s ability to decide to terminate a pregnancy when she is not ready to have a child. You will know a woman is empowered when she is able to make her own decision about if and when she can have children.
I therefore call upon legislators to amend article 26(4) of the Kenyan constitution which states that: Abortion is not permitted unless, in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if permitted by any other written law. Here is my proposal for the amendments: unsafe abortion is a crime. Only safe abortion shall be permitted and be done by a health professional.