Kenyan Religious Leaders Threaten to Lobby Government If Abortion Language Is Not Removed from Draft Constitution

Kenya's religious leaders are threatening to lobby for a 'no' vote in an upcoming referendum on the country's constitution if language removing abortion restrictions is not removed from the draft document. Meanwhile, abortion activists and international population control NGOs are pushing hard to loosen the law.

Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Eliud Wabukala said last week that the churches are refusing a call by the prime minister to back down on the life issues.

"We all have said that God values life and life begins at conception. That is a principle and we all seem to have agreed on that aspect," he said.

In January, a draft constitution was submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee for examination, which pro-life leaders warned risked bringing legal abortion in through a loophole in the wording. In the document the phrase "everyone has a right to life" failed to define life as beginning before birth.

Parliamentary drafters later agreed to include the definition of life as beginning at "conception," but now, under pressure from the international abortion lobby, have inserted language that would allow abortion in the case of a "danger to life or health of the mother."

Such ambiguous phrasing, however, has been instrumental for abortion activists in the U.S. and elsewhere, since the word "health" is often interpreted so broadly as to effectively abolish all restrictions on abortion.

As of last week, the Committee of Experts' final draft says abortion is not permitted unless in the opinion of one trained health professional there is a need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if it is permitted by another written law.

Under the current law, abortion in Kenya is restricted to cases of danger to the mother's life. Under this law three "medical practitioners" must sign off on the procedure. U.S.-based abortion lobbyists are outraged that abortion is outlawed in Kenya in cases of rape and are lobbying hard, circulating the usual claims that "tens of thousands" of women die from or are injured by "illegal abortions.

Kenya has an overwhelming Christian majority and a fertility rate of 4.56 children per woman - a rate that is well above that required for a stable population. This has made it a primary target nation for international population control groups and abortion lobbyists.  

On March 3, the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights issued a video claiming that keeping abortion illegal threatens the lives of Kenyan women. "Every year, tens of thousands of women in Kenya die or suffer from complications from an unsafe abortion."

Last week, Dr. Nehemiah Kimathi of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) urged MPs to drop remaining pro-life language from the draft. "The inclusion of the clause will make life so difficult even in providing reproductive health services to the extent that in this country where we have made very good progress in the improvement of SRH programs," he said.

But Canon Peter Karanja of the National Council of Churches told Inter Press Service, "Life is sacrosanct. The definition of life must be stipulated in the supreme law of the land, the Constitution."