 Kenya’s Committee of Experts (COE) has done it again. The COE reinserted provisions that leave the door open for abortion, by indicating it may be done if a health care professional deems it necessary. It does not clarify what class of health care professional, so it could be a nurse, doctor, clinical officer, public health inspector, medical student -- anyone. This is a very dangerous trend since it is subjective and unregulated. All one needs is a health care professional to even say something abstract -- like the mother’s mental health was threatened, or she was unable to cope with motherhood -- and they would be justified in carrying out the abortion.
The COE has also retained the Kadhi courts (Islamic Courts), as was done by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC).
Kenya’s church leaders and other Christian lobbyists have come out condemning the provisions and promising that the Christian block will vote down the draft. Our position has been helped since the situation has reconnected those who were not too averse to Kadhi courts. All Christians are united in clarifying that life begins at conception and in leaving no loophole to promote abortion. This is a blessing since the numbers are now greater. The PSC has finished their week-long deliberations, and the draft is now headed back to Parliament for a final round of debates that should take us through the next 30 days.
With our Petition papers ready, the EACLJ is ready to fan out to the grassroots to go and collect signatures that clearly state our ground. The new strategy of the lobbyists of abortion, same-sex marriage and Kadhi courts is not to appeal to us to understand and accept them, but rather to look at the good portions of the Constitution, pass those, and leave the others to Parliament to debate and the Courts to interpret. With the quality of debates in the Kenyan Parliament, politicians’ party loyalties may still decide if the new Constitution with the unwanted provisions will be properly debated or not. Court deliberations are lengthy and very expensive; so if this goes to court, the pro-abortion lobbyists have an endless source of funds from industry proponents like Planned Parenthood in Western countries.
The Christians have suggested a compromise clause that reads something like this: ALL religions are equal before the State, and reserve the right to practice their faith without restriction. ALL religions reserve the right to set up Tribunals that will resolve disputes according to the tenets of that religion, provided all parties involved subscribe to the faith, and it is limited to matters of personal law. No State resources shall be expended in the setting up and running of these religious Tribunals in infrastructure or staffing.
We’ll continue to keep you updated about the work of the EACLJ in Kenya.
Joy Mdivo
Executive Director - East Africa Centre for Law & Justice |