Anti-abortion advocates gear up for fight

Kenyans are not yet ready for a law that would legalise abortion.

They are sharply divided on whether or not abortion should be incorporated in our laws, with a slim majority saying it should never be allowed under whatever circumstances, an opinion poll indicates.

Fifty six per cent of Kenyans totally oppose such a law, with a majority of them living in rural areas, according to research by the Steadman Group conducted last month.

However, it is not that the remaining 44 per cent support abortion. Of these, 30 per cent sit on the fence, saying abortion should be legalised only if the life of the mother is in danger.

At 58 per cent, more men than women are against such a law, despite the fact that men play a critical role in bringing about unwanted pregnancies.

Suffer physically

A lesser number, (54 per cent) of women is opposed to abortion perhaps because it is they who suffer most physically and psychologically when abortion takes place.

The stand to oppose abortion is a bit confusing, and might suggest that men tend to avoid responsibility, without providing a solution, at least according to the researchers.

 “Any effort to address abortion must therefore fully involve men. Unfortunately, even when the mother’s life is in danger, only a handful of men — 27 per cent — would allow abortion to take place,” said Steadman Group’s managing director, Mr George Waititu.

Surprisingly, only three out of 10 women would want abortion legalised if the mother’s life is in danger. The research did not, however, establish whether among this percentage, there are views of those who have had an abortion.

The sheer closeness of the number of those for it and those against it indicate the abortion debate remains a hot potato, generating heat from the streets to the pulpit, rural to urban areas and from the illiterate to the most educated.

The findings, a copy of which Saturday Nation obtained on Friday, shows opinion bordered on religious, gender, cultural, education as well as poverty reasons.

Among religious groups, Muslims are the most conservative, with 74 per cent objecting to abortion under any circumstance.

Christians are most liberal on this subject, with almost half of them (46 per cent) supporting abortion but under conditions.

And, considering that Kenya is a predominantly Christian country, the real number of people supporting abortion could be relatively high.

Church leaders who have vehemently opposed the law attribute the high number of Christians supporting abortion to a proliferation of charismatic churches and doctrines that have embraced modernity.

Christian groups

Among Roman Catholics, 57 per cent would not allow abortion to be legalised under any condition, followed closely by Protestants at 55 per cent. These two are the main Christian groups.

Outside these, 52 per cent of Adventists are more liberal. They would allow abortion under given circumstances.

While a majority of Christians and Muslims is conservative on the abortion issue, religious leaders cannot assume that the liberal camp among their followers is a weak one, neither is it likely to disappear quickly.

Financial stability, closely linked to urban areas and formal education, contribute a large number of those who do not have a problem with a woman who has an abortion.

Fifty three per cent of urban populations would not allow it compared to 57 per cent of those living in rural areas.

“Poverty in particular, contributes widely to the conservative views on abortion and this is closely intertwined with education and urbanisation,” said Mr Waititu.

The poll also shows that those who would never support legalising abortion decreased with increasing level of education.

This means that the more educated one is, the more one is likely to embrace abortion. Only 43 per cent of university graduates would oppose legalised abortion compared to 84 per cent for those who have never gone to school.

Form Four leavers and those with either certificates or diplomas constitute 52 and 50 per cent respectively of those who oppose abortion while 68 per cent of standard eight dropouts are against it.

“Education and urbanisation make people more open and aware of new ways of life and this could include reproductive health and rights,” said Mr Waititu.

The findings of the study come at a time when the Reproductive Health and Rights Draft Bill, currently before Parliament, continues to elicit heated debates.

According to the Kenyan Chapter of the Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida-K), the architects of the bill, a law on abortion would substantially reduce the high number of maternal deaths caused by secret abortions.

According to ministry of Health data, more than 2,600 deaths occur every year due to unsafe abortion.

Kenyan doctors have several times expressed alarm over increased deaths and health complications that arise from abortions gone awry.

Statistics further show that 25,000 women seek abortion every month while every year, about 21,000 women are admitted to public hospitals in serious condition after failed abortions.

A study by the ministry of health in 2003 also showed unsafe abortion was one of the top five causes of maternal deaths, with abortion patients occupying 50 per cent of maternity beds in public hospitals.

Among other things, the Bill seems to criminalise female circumcision and anyone who carries out female genital mutilation shall be guilty of an offence and be liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or be fined not more than Sh200,000 or both.”

The mother attracts more sympathy than the unborn baby. A good number of those with university education (about 37 per cent) would allow abortion if the life of the mother is in danger, compared to only 11 per cent of those without formal schooling.

Only one per cent of Kenyans would allow abortion to be legalised in cases where the life of the child is in danger.

Six per cent of Kenyans would allow abortion in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape or any other sexual assault, shows the survey in which 2,007 adult respondents from across the religious divide were sampled.

Admittedly, policy makers require further assessment of Kenyans’ views, why they take certain positions and whether trends are changing with the environment.

The research leaves room for two possibilities. First, either policy makers take the majority view, in which case a lean majority would not allow abortion to be legalised under any circumstance.

Winning support

Secondly, if they hope to convince those who oppose the law, formal education and poverty alleviation appear to be the more realistic, yet long term strategies that might succeed in winning public support on the subject.

“This would mean focusing on rural areas, fully involving men in finding a solution, and engaging religious groups and not just their leaders,” Mr Waititu told the Nation.

The abortion debate has been emotive in Kenya in the recent past.

In 2004, religious leaders loudly condemned any attempt to legalise abortion.

In 2003, activist groups had taken to the streets to protest a call by women MPs to legalise abortion.

The pro-abortion parliamentarians in the last August House, argued that such a law would help curb maternal deaths related to secret abortions.