Exactly the same arguments, based on lies, are being aired in Kenya to justify legalised abortion as were used in the the UK, the US and other western nations.
According to Kenya's "Daily Nation" last Friday, the federation of women's lawyers (FIDA) which drafted a draconian abortion bill on which I blogged last week have said: “It is not a matter of giving women the permission to decide whether to abort or not, it is about legalising abortion to improve their physical and mental health” and "the Bill will reduce the number of abortion-related deaths occurring in Kenya".
These are classic pro-abortion lies. And pro-life Kenyan MPs must resist the temptation they will be offered to agree to an amended "compromise" version of the extreme Reproductive Health and Rights Bill.
Kenyan politicians and church leaders need look no further than the Republic of Ireland which has a constitutional ban on abortion. It has the lowest maternal mortality rate in the world, according to figures published by the World Health Organization in 2007. These figures, for the year 2005, reflect Ireland's position over many years as, arguably, the safest place in the world to have a baby. And they vindicate the statement, in 1992, of Ireland's foremost obstetricans and gynaecologists: “As obstetricians and gynaecologists, we affirm that there are no medical circumstances justifying direct abortion, that is, no circumstances in which the life of a mother
may only be saved by directly terminating the life of her unborn child.” (Letter to Irish Times, 1st April 1992, signed by Professor John Bonnar, Head of the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Trinity College, Dublin; Kieran O’Driscoll, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College, Dublin; Eamonn O’Dwyer, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College, Galway; and Julia Vaughan, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist.)
may only be saved by directly terminating the life of her unborn child.” (Letter to Irish Times, 1st April 1992, signed by Professor John Bonnar, Head of the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Trinity College, Dublin; Kieran O’Driscoll, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College, Dublin; Eamonn O’Dwyer, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College, Galway; and Julia Vaughan, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist.)
As I said last month, exactly the same kind of false arguments are being used by British MPs to justify the extension of the British Abortion Act to Northern Ireland - and Northern Ireland has the lowest rate of maternal deaths in the UK - and the BBC appears to be promoting these falsehoods, which are such a favourite of the pro-abortion lobby, in the run-up to a possible vote on this matter in Westminster in October.
I've no doubt that Kenya will be told by politicians that it's important to legalise some abortions in order to stop more extreme measures being put forward. Kenya needs to follow the courageous example of the Irish people who stood firm against legalized abortion in spite of blackmail tactics of politicians.
