NAIROBI - Kenya has
banned the international charity Marie Stopes from offering
abortion services to women and girls after complaints it was
promoting the termination of unwanted pregnancies, the
government and charity officials said on Monday.
Abortions are not permitted in Kenya unless a woman's life
or health is in danger and emergency treatment is required.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB)
said it had acted after the public, pro-life campaigners and the
Kenya Film Classification Board complained that Marie Stopes
radio adverts promoted abortions - a claim the charity denies.
"Marie Stopes Kenya is hearby directed to immediately cease
and desist offering any form of abortion services in all its
facilities within the Republic of Kenya," KMPDB said in a letter
to Marie Stopes Country Director Dana Tilson dated Nov. 14.
The charity - which provides family planning, counselling,
emergency abortions and post-abortion care to thousands of women
and girls - said its campaign promoted awareness about unsafe
abortions.
"At no point did we promote abortions," marketing director
Christopher Wainaina told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"Our media campaign talks about the legal status of abortion
in Kenya, the stigma of abortion that exists and how it is
leading to high numbers of women becoming victims of botched
backstreet abortions and dying as a result."
Almost half a million abortions were conducted in Kenya in
2012 - mostly in backstreet clinics - with one in four women and
girls suffering complications such as high fever, sepsis, shock
and organ failure, said a February health ministry report.
An estimated 266 women die per 100,000 unsafe abortions in
Kenya - higher than rates estimated in other east African
nations, it added.
Campaigners warned that the ban on Marie Stopes could hit
victims of backstreet abortions who desperately need emergency
treatment.
"There aren't many places for women to go in that situation
- many would rather die than go to a government hospital because
of the stigma and discrimination they face," said Evelyne
Opondo, Africa Director for the Center for Reproductive Rights.
"I think many girls and women could lose their lives due to
this ban. Those who do not lose their lives may end up with
life-long disabilities due to no proper treatment."
Government hospitals are the main provider of safe
abortions, but are often overstretched.
Campaigners said authorities, influenced by powerful
Christian organisations, were making it harder for women to
access safe abortions.
Since 2010, the ministry of health has withdrawn essential
guidelines on conducting safe abortions and banned health
workers from training on abortion.
The KMPDB also reprimanded the charity for contravening
advertising rules for medical practitioners, and ordered it to
file weekly reports on all services provided in its 23 clinics
across the country for the next 60 days.
Wainaina said Marie Stopes - which has operated in Kenya for
over three decades - was working with the KMPDB and the ministry
of health to seek clarity on the issues raised in the letter and
hoped to find a resolution soon.
This is not the first time Marie Stopes - which works in 37
countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America as well as the
United States - has faced a suspension.
A British watchdog in 2016 suspended the charity from
performing abortions on under-18s and vulnerable women, and
suspended abortions under general anaesthetic after raising
concerns over patient care.