EDITORIAL: We must rethink teen contraceptive ban

Kenya must face an uncomfortable truth: our teenagers are having sex, and too many are paying for it with their futures, their health, and sometimes, their lives.

The latest Ministry of Health report shows more than 240,000 girls aged 10 to 19 got pregnant last year. While this is slightly fewer than the year before, it is still too many. Each statistic hides a frightened girl who likely had no information, no protection and no real choice.

We can no longer pretend that telling young people to “wait until they’re older” is enough. The reality is that many teenagers are sexually active long before they reach 18. They do not wait for our consent. They need our support. 

Blocking them from contraception is pushing them towards unsafe abortions, early motherhood, and, in the worst cases, death. More than 1,100 young mothers died last year from pregnancy complications. These are not just numbers. These are lost dreams and grieving families.

Let us be brave enough to ask: does denying contraception protect our children, or does it harm them more? Cultural taboos and moral panic cannot continue to win over logic and compassion.

Kenya needs an honest, national conversation about contraceptive access for adolescents. Protecting young people should come before protecting outdated beliefs.

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Quote of the day: “Common sense is seeing things as they are; and doing things as they ought to be.” — American author Harriet Beecher Stowe was born on July 1, 1896