Passaris wants women to procure abortion at will
What you need to know:
- Women should not give birth to children to suffer
- Passaris promised to help Prisca Akumu, sterilised without consent, to get justice
Nairobi County Women Representative Esther Passaris has asked that women be allowed to procure abortion at will.
She expressed concern over women living in the slums who use abortion as a family planning method resulting to inevitable deaths, and high rates of inhumane disposal of innocent infants.
"They should not give birth to children to suffer. They should not have children they cannot take care of," she said.
The legislator was speaking during the 9th Africa Conference on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, which has been running since February 10, at KICC in Nairobi.
"I'm for pro-choice. Let the women procure abortion early in pregnancy if they don't want to have the child," she stated.
Passaris also promised to help Prisca Akumu to get justice, a step-of-action following publication of her story on Nation. Ms Akumu, a woman living with disability, was sterilised without her consent.
The MP said Ms Akumu’s sexual and reproductive health and rights were gravely violated.
"No one had the right to unilaterally decide to do TL (tubal ligation) on her. I will meet with her and see how she will get justice," she said on Friday at KICC.
Ms Akumu's tubes were tied by a doctor after a surgical delivery Caesarean Section (CS) in 2007, on grounds of being physically challenged, and having three children, all of whom she delivered through CS.
