In Harm’s Way: Conclusions in Brief
As this report demonstrates, when access to safe and legal abortion is limited, women resort to unsafe abortion, with devastating consequences for their health, lives, and families. This report documents these consequences in Kenya, highlighting how Kenya’s restrictive legal and policy regime, coupled with the Kenyan government’s failure to effectively address the root causes leading to unwanted pregnancies, leaves women squarely in harm’s way.
The report offers a comprehensive look at the corrosive effects of criminalizing abortion. It further demonstrates the toll the law has on the lives of healthcare providers and on their ability to effectively and ethically comply with the dictates of their profession: to save the lives and protect the health of their patients. Finally, the overwhelming resource burden placed on the healthcare system by the number of patients seeking post-abortion care can be traced directly to Kenya’s restrictive abortion law. Reform is needed to address the problem of unsafe abortion and low-quality abortion care.
