Desperate to terminate unwanted pregnancies some women and girls go to “curtain clinics”. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenya’s longest-established family planning clinic has lost 60
per cent of its budget for defying a Trump administration policy
forbidding women’s health providers from offering information or
services related to abortion.
Family Health Options
Kenya (FHOK) has been forced to close one of its 14 clinics and curtail
services at others due to US funding cuts amounting to Sh200 million ($2
million), Washington-based National Public Radio (NPR) reported on
Wednesday.
The loss of aid is leading some pregnant
Kenyans to resort to unsafe measures, FHOK reproductive health nurse
Melvine Ouyo told the US radio network.
Desperate to
terminate unwanted pregnancies, these women and girls go to “curtain
clinics” — clandestine settings that lack trained doctors and nurses, Ms
Ouyo said.
Others use crochet needles, added the nurse who works at a clinic in Kibera.
As
an example of the help FHOK provides, Ms Ouyo cited the case of a young
orphan girl whose uncle had repeatedly sexually abused her.
When
the girl became pregnant at age 13, she was determined not to give
birth to a baby that would be the product of incest, Ms Ouyo related.
“This
girl comes to you suicidal,” the nurse told NPR. “She had already
attempted unsafe abortion. She had taken herbs given by friends. Her
friends referred her to us, and she was able to access safe abortion
services.”
Mr Trump and other Republican presidents
dating to the 1980s have used the so-called “gag rule” to spread their
anti-abortion policies to developing countries.
No comments :
Post a Comment