Catholic bishops yesterday opposed a proposal to have girls use contraceptives to prevent early pregnancies.
They warned that the anti-pregnancy drugs or devices promote immorality and could devastate society. They also maintained their opposition to legalisation of abortion.
Through the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, the church says an early pregnancy is a form of child abuse that should be dealt with within the law.
“The rights of people don’t include destruction of other forms of life. We urge the government to wipe out commercials advocating freedom of choice,” KCCB chairman Philip Anyolo said in Nairobi.
The clerics argue that the use of contraceptives exposes girls to long-term complications that could leave their reproductive health in ruins.
“Agreeing to provide contraceptives only means we have given a go-ahead to teenagers to engage in sex, which is against the law,” Anyolo said.
Reproductive health doctor Susan Macharia disagreed. She said contraceptives cannot cause lifelong effects if used properly. Macharia encouraged the use of condoms among the teens to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
“Most hormonal contraceptives have short-term side effects like nausea, vomiting, irregular periods, and tenderness of the breast, among others,” Macharia said.
According to a 2017 study published in the US Western Journal of Medicine, oral contraceptives are the most common contraception used by adolescents. It says 44 per cent of sexually active teenagers aged between 15 and 19 use them.
Meanwhile, the Catholic clergy defended maize farmers’ demands that the price for a 90kg bag be increased. They said the recently gazetted price of Sh2,300 was too low. Last year, the government paid Sh3,000.
The men of the cloth urged the government to intensify the war on corruption and have all culprits brought to book.
“We want to applaud government agencies in the crackdown on corrupt individuals and urge them to freeze and recover assets after prosecution of corrupt individuals,”Anyolo said.
They called for lifestyle audit of all leaders and public officers. The religious leaders also supported a review of the Constitution.
“A referendum should be delinked from 2022 politics or presidential succession,” he said.