I started writing this after I saw the raging debate in the West about whether a woman should have agency over their body and their unborn child or not.

And this got me thinking about how Kenyans view and handle abortions. It is a hush-hush topic that no one wants to touch, yet abortions are commonplace in Kenya, not just in urban centres, but in villages as well. 

Many argue that abortions are a foreign concept. That we can only start pushing for safe abortions once we have dealt with third-world problems such as poverty and food security. But abortions are at the heart of reproductive health. It is, therefore without a doubt a concern that we should address.

A 2019 report shocked many as it showed that married women were procuring more unsafe abortions than any other demographic. Thing is, most people harbor this notion that a married woman should not abort. At the heart of this notion is the patriarchal view that a woman’s role in marriage is to bear children. Marriage legitimises children, so why should a married woman abort? The truth of the matter is that children are a lot of work that someone may not be ready to sign up for. 

Judging those who commit abortions comes from a lack of empathy and privilege. It comes from a place of needing to keep access to safe abortions to the rich. What about that girl in the village who will take concentrated tea leaves trying to abort? Wouldn’t it be better to allow her to safely abort? 

And no, preaching the risks of abortion and advising already pregnant mothers to use contraceptives is unhelpful. It is tantamount to bolting the gate to an empty stall long after the horse has bolted. These pregnant women know all the dangers of abortions and choose to go ahead with it anyway.

The best we can do is make it safe for them. It does not mean the number of abortions will increase. It just means we will stop losing mothers to festering diseases.

It means that we stop forcing mothers to give birth then they abandon the child in a dumpster, or at a bus station. It means that we allow mothers to do whatever they want with their bodies. As for me, the Fetus Deletus button should already be in the Kenyan law.

And no, I have not yet done an abortion. And if I did, I would be heck proud and would talk about it endlessly to support and lead the movement to legalising abortions. It is time we started talking about abortions openly and without shame.