Human rights group to challenge Court of Appeal ruling on abortion rights
By Zipporah Ngwatu, April 25, 2026The Centre for Reproductive Rights, a human rights group, has expressed its disappointment in the ruling by the Malindi Court of Appeal quashing the High Court’s decision on abortion rights.
The Court of Appeal on Friday, April 24, 2026, overturned a judgment delivered by Judge R. Nyakundi at the Malindi High Court on March 24, 2022, giving women rights to procure abortion.
Notably, the CoA has also reinstated the criminal prosecution of PAK and the clinician who helped her when she went to the health facility in pain and bleeding.
Through a press statement the rights group has vowed to move to the Supreme Court of Kenya to challenge the Court of Appeal judgement.
“We disagree with the Court of Appeal findings, and we will be moving to the Supreme Court of Kenya to correct this anomaly,” the Center for Reproductive Rights states.
According to the group in September 2019, PAK experienced pregnancy complications, including severe abdominal pain, dizziness and vaginal bleeding.
This prompted her to seek medical attention at a clinic in Kilifi County, where a trained clinical officer, Salim Mohammed, examined her and determined she had lost the pregnancy.
The group states that the clinician proceeded to provide emergency post-abortion care to the young woman.
However, the police arrested both PAK and Mohammed, a licensed healthcare professional, and detained them.
Further, they state that PAK was arrested from her hospital bed and was detained at the Ganze Police Patrol Base for two nights, without medical care.
The body states that days later, after the arrests, police officers stormed the clinic and seized PAK’s medical records and forced her to undergo a medical examination against her wish.
In addition, they aver that the police also compelled PAK to sign a statement that did not reflect her account of events, and she was remanded at Malindi Juvenile Remand Prison for over a month.
“This is not an exceptional story. It is what the criminalisation of abortion looks like in practice,” the Centre for Reproductive Rights states.
They also reveal that every year, at least 2,600 women die from unsafe abortions in Kenya, and 21,000 more are hospitalised due to abortion complications.
The rights group adds that a 2023 national study by APHRC found an estimated 792,694 induced abortions in Kenya in that year alone, with over 304,000 women seeking facility-based care for post-abortion complications.
“This is not a statistic; it is the lived reality of what happens when women and girls are denied care, information, and dignity,” the rights group states.