African Woman and Child Feature Service

The Kenyan government once again is struggling with the abortion issue as the country prepares to host on June 23-25, the Africa Regional meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The country's preparatory report on progress to date since the Cairo conference will probably remain mute on abortion, and once again, the reality of what is happening on the ground will be hidden.

A major failure of Kenya's population policies in the past 10 years have been their inability to reach the most vulnerable groups, who are in need of good reproductive health care and information. Young women and men appear to be completely out of the country's population policy and reproductive health services loop.

One answer that is put forth to encourage young women who find themselves pregnant not to abort is to consider the option of adoption. One doctor confirmed, "Those who agree to carry the pregnancy to term do so on the assurance that their babies will be adopted at the time of birth, and the burden of raising the child is taken up by someone else." But this is not the key to the testy abortion issue and it will not make illegal abortions go away.

Another option offered is to provide young teenage mothers with the means to take care of themselves and their infants as a way to stem illegal abortion. In Britain, for example, young teenage mothers are given a monthly stipend and a municipal house. It is clear that the ailing Kenyan economy could not support such an initiative.

What is needed is more proactive reproductive health care services and information for youth, which reach throughout the country. There are still gaps in information of the use of contraceptives for youth, and often it is found that young people seek out information from their peers, which leads them to make risky and uninformed choices.

Recently the Kenyan press sensationalized, even using pictures, the death of 15 fetuses apparently due to illegal abortions. The public shrieked and public condemnation of abortion was rife. But this response will not discourage the young women, who saw no other choice open to them, from repeating the act again.

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