Being a mother should be a choice and no woman or girl should feel obligated to have children.
Unfortunately, due to the society that we live in, the choice of motherhood for women and women’s right has been eroded by either the law, patriarchal manipulation, gender inequality, religious doctrines or culture.
Women, especially those in poverty have little and sometimes no say in determining whether to have children or not. When they finally get the chance to exercise choice for abortion, they turn to unsafe and illegal methods putting their health and lives at risk.
Half out of the 500,000 abortions performed in Kenya every year are unsafe. As a result, seven women die every day due to unsafe abortion. The fact that women were created with a womb can give birth does not imply that they have an obligation of being mothers. If a woman is not ready to be a mother, it is our duty to support her in all ways and providing her with the services and information she needs in order to avoid becoming a mother.
All women should be free to choose what to do with their own bodies and life and this should be accepted and supported by everyone. Access to high quality, affordable, contraception services and comprehensive abortion care services should be available to every woman in the country to enable women to make choices and realise their these choices that they make.
