Historically, women around the world have tried to end their unintended pregnancies whether abortion is legal or not, often jeopardizing their safety and health by self-inducing or seeking a dangerous illegal procedure.
In countries where abortion remains illegal including Kenya, it is a leading cause of maternal mortality.In 2008, the World Health Organization said Eastern and Middle Africa had the highest global rates of unsafe abortions, at 36 per 1,000 reproductive-aged women. Based on 2012 statistics, the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) estimates that nearly 465,000 Kenyan women undergo abortions each year.
The reason a lot of young women choose to have a backstreet abortion is because of the fear of being spotted at a clinic or hospital and because these illegal doctors are easy to access. In most cases, these women are ashamed of being pregnant at an early age and fear their parents and society’s judgement.
Abortion is somewhat a class battle. Money is another leading cause of unsafe abortions. For wealthy Kenyans, certain private clinics where doctors are happy to take on the legal uncertainty are an option. Safe abortions at clinics can cost about 20,000 Kenyan shillings ($200), whereas unsafe abortions are roughly a tenth of that price and payments can be made in installments. It is not uncommon for household goods, such as televisions, to be included in those payments. Hence you find many young women going for unsafe
The issue of abortion in Kenya has been mired in confusion and contention for the past six years. There are a lot of risks involved with having a backstreet abortion. The backstreet doctors advertise an easy and cheap procedure, and they don’t care about your health afterwards. A person can bleed to death or in some cases, the whole process can lead into infertility.
Another danger of going to these backstreet doctors is that after the procedure they do not clean the womb, which can lead to continuous bleeding or infections.
As in the case of Caroline Mwatha, according to reports from the police, it was confirmed that the activist died from a botched abortion operation at a clinic facility in Dandora. Her body was later moved to the City Mortuary at 4.42am on February 7, 2019. She was registered under Tag N0 1495 as Carol Mbeki, a false name, statement reveals. The arrested clinic officials are believed to have lied to mortuary officials that the deceased had died from diarrhoea and not a botched abortion.
Their attempts to get away with the crime did not bear any fruits as they were arrested. This is however, not every young woman’s luck as many of these quack backstreet doctors and clinics manage to get away with their crimes against humanity. That is why they remain in business long after countless murders are committed!
Abortion is illegal in Kenya unless the mother’s life is in danger, but government statistics show over 400,000 abortions are carried out annually. In November 2018 authorities banned British charity Marie Stopes International over adverts it said promoted abortion, lifting it a month later.
Marie Stopes estimates some seven women die a day in Kenya in so-called backstreet abortions.