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Abortion and maternal mortality - Breaking the Silence
On April 08, 2010 the WomenWatch news feed posted a story on the UN-led campaign to provide affordable health care for Indian women in a bid to improve access to maternal and child health services. This reminded me of a post I wrote on international women’s day this year, in memory of women lost during child birth an issue that is near and dear to my heart.
Every minute somewhere in the world a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. In my country Kenya, 22 women die each day from pregnancy related complications - 80% of these deaths are preventable. Official statistics show that 30 to 50% of all maternal deaths in Kenya are directly attributed to unsafe abortion. Abortion is illegal in Kenya and only allowed when a woman's life is in danger. Despite this about 300,000 terminations take place in Kenya each year with an estimated 20,000 women and girls being admitted with abortion-related complications in the hospital.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) nearly 42 million women faced with an unintended pregnancy have an abortion each year 20 million of which are unsafe abortions. What is an unsafe abortion? These are numerous and include:
- The use herbs, roots and leaves inserted into a woman's vagina in order to remove the foetus. This is usually done by traditional midwives
- Inserting sharp objects like a coat hanger, knitting needle, bicycle spoke or a stem of a local herb into the vagina or cervix
- Ingesting high doses of malaria pills
- Some girls/women visit shady clinics who do not meet minimal medical standards, are unsanitary and lack blood and oxygen supplies and whose staff generally lack knowledge of anaesthesia obstetrics or gynaecology.
There are many reasons for the prevalence of abortion in Kenya. Pregnancy out of wedlock is scorned, with many girls ousted from school and even from home once it is obvious that they are pregnant. Because abortion remains shrouded in secrecy it is difficulty to initiate positive action. Funding policies by some donor agencies restricts provision of funds to organisations that provide abortions, lobby for them or in any way facilitate them further silencing activism.
Is legalizing abortion the answer? Is the pro-choice argument a women’s reproductive health right issue or a human rights issue? Do we make contraception more available to girls and women to reduce the incidence of unplanned pregnancies? How do we reconcile possible solutions with Kenyan law, cultural and religious beliefs? Please share your views and let us break the silence and reduce maternal mortality today.
Views: 93
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Comment by Edwige Lelievre on April 11, 2010 at 8:47pm
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That is great news Yumna, and your braviour is impressive. Thanks a lot !
I hope such law can be voted in Kenya and that there will be doctors there as brave as you are.
@ Oliver : Totally agree with you !
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Comment by Ssozi Javie on April 12, 2010 at 7:07am
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Well, abortion remains an abomination and illegal in Uganda. Many girls and women still abort "unwanted pregnancies" secretly. Many dont seek professional assistance because of fear for prosecution.
The situation here in Uganda is not any different from the one agent Shakwei describes in her post. It remains a big shame that girl and women are not sensitized on how to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
Thank you for sharing this post I think this is one of the areas where we need to do a lot advocacy.
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Comment by Victor Udoewa on April 13, 2010 at 1:58am
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Similar to Yumna, my experience is in South Africa. I have worked as an HIV/AIDS counselor and crisis pregnancy counselor for a few years. Whether or not abortion is legalized or criminalized, I have never met a single mother who did not have some negative affect from abortion (whether emotional, psychological, physical, etc.). It's a hard hard thing to do even if you do not want the baby.
In South Africa, as Yumna says, it's legal up to a certain point (3 months) and requires special reasons to be done legally afterward. Many countries have a time-line for when it is legal and conditions for when it is not legal. Therefore it is more appropriate to speak of the conditions for legal abortion for those countries.
Religiously I'm a Christian, but I don't insist on legislating my Christian morality. I believe in waiting for marriage, but I think we need to educate our children on proper contraceptives. It's similar to driving. I tell little children they should NOT get behind the wheel until they are old enough, but if they were ever to do it, it is important to always where a seat belt. We could use the same philosophy with sex education. Even though you preach abstinence you also teach contraceptives. Abstinence alone doesn't seem to work (though some say it does).
The problem described here seems to require social engineering--solutions that affect behavioral change. This can often be harder than just a technological innovation.
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Comment by nomadHAR on April 13, 2010 at 8:59pm
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in the USA, there are many FAKE clinics run by Pro-Life people that advertise abortion services, then give FALSE medical information to pressure the women into not having an abortion. some of these FAKE clinics are even lying to women about their pregnancy. by the time the woman realizes that she is really pregnant, it will be too late.
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/video_taxpayer_dollars_so_...
it sounds like similar things are happening in some of your countries.
i do have some good news. my current city (Austin, Texas, USA) just passed a law that forces these FAKE clinics to post signs that reveal that these places have no information on birth control or abortion.
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/austin_tells_fake_clinics_...
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