Passaris explains why she put her daughter on birth control at 16

Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris on Thursday revealed that she put her daughter on birth control when she was 16.

Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV, Passaris, who was part of a panel discussing High Court’s ruling on abortion, clarified that her move was not to encourage her daughter to engage in sexual activities but to ensure she did not get pregnant at an early age.

"Her friends were already having sex, I had it at a later age, my mother didn't know about it and at the end of the day, I felt that it was important to take my daughter to a gynae.

"I took her to my gynae in Nairobi and I said to my gynae, I want her on the pill, put her on the pill at the age of 16," she said.

Further, Passaris urged parents to be realistic and understand that their children might be engaging in sex.

"Parents have got to be realistic, by putting my daughter on birth control, I made sure that abortion does not become the birth control," she remarked.

Last week, the High Court ruled that abortion remains illegal in Kenya and will only be permissible when the life of the mother is at risk as a result of pregnancy.

However, the court also ruled that safe abortion which is procured within the confines of the law must be done by permitted medical health practitioners.

While making the ruling Justice George Odunga gave certain conditions which can determine whether the health status of the mother requires safe abortion as the remedy.

“In regards to what should be termed as the health of mother, we rely on medical descriptions that state it is the social, mental and physical state. Therefore, abortion is permitted where the health of a mother is at risk as determined by a trained medical professional,” he said.

He further added: “In the question of who is a trained medical professional as per the abortion provision, we rely on the Health Act which describes a trained medical professional as a midwife, clinical officer, nurse and any other trained medical worker.”