A Human Rights lobby group and activist have challenged government move to ban health reproductive service provider Marie from offering any form of abortion.
“Pending hearing and determination of the petition, a conservatory order does issue staying the ruling by the KMPDU in particular order 1 of the ruling dated the 10 November 2018” said petitioners.
They wants orders issued suspending the decision by the Director of Medical services banning the provision of any post abortion care services by Marie Stopes Kenya and contained letter in his letter dated the 20 of November this year.
They also seeking KMPDU compelled to provide all the records related to the matter of Ann Kioko vs Marie Stopes Kenya including full proceedings of the preliminary inquiry committee of the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Bond hearing held on Wednesday 7 November 2018, Certified copy of the decision of the preliminary inquiry committee of KMPDU, Minutes of the full KMPDU held on THE 10 November who sat in considering complaints against Marie Stopes, list of members among others.
Through lawyer Sofia Rajab Leitapan, the lobby group said the decision is contrary to the constitution specifically right to life and health.
The petition was filed this afternoon a week after the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) suspended International reproductive service provider Marie Stopes from offering abortions and post-abortion care on November 14.
Network for Adolescents and Youth of Africa alongside activist Jackline Mary Karanja claim that the ban was issued as a result of misinformation and is a deterrent for any woman or girl in Kenya from accessing safe abortion and post abortion care or lifesaving services lawfully.
The organization also claims that as are result of the said ban women and girls who present themselves in Marie Stopes Clinics in need of urgent medical emergency care in the form of safe abortion and post abortion care cannot access lawful, vital lifesaving services.
The ban is a deterrent for any woman or girl in Kenya from accessing safe abortion and post abortion services owing to the misinformation it communicates and resultant chilling effect on health service providers who provide chilling effect on health service providers who provide safe and legal abortion and post abortion care services, “
While speaking to NairobiTimez outside Milimani Law Courts after filing the petition, the organization through it regional senior director for Africa Evelyne Opondo and regional Managing for Africa Nyasha Chingore-Munazvo said it had filed a petition seeking the high court to declare the ban by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board (KMPDB) unconstitutional.
“We have filed petition challenging KPNDU ban on Marie Stopes Kenya ordering them to stop forth will provision of any abortion services including post abortion care services. We are challenging that ban because it is unconstitutional”. Regional senior director Evelyne Opondo said.
The regional director further said the impact of that ban is beyond Marie stops Kenya it affecting the right to health for women and adults.
“We are challenging the process through which that decision was reached. We are saying the impact of that ban is beyond Marie stops Kenya it affecting the right to health for women and adults across the country and it has created a chilling effect such that providers who ordinary provide legal abortion services are not providing that service for fear of arrests and intimidation”. Added Opondo.
Opondo further said there are number of women in Kenya who have either died from abortion related complications or living with abortion related complication and in 2013 ministry of health released a study that there were about 460,000 abortion in Kenya in 2012.
The lobby group is seeking conservatory orders to suspend the decision by the Director of Medical Services barring the provisions of post abortion care services by Marie Stopes Kenya as contained in his letter dated 14th of this month.
“We are asking the court to lift the ban that was puts on Marie stopes from providing legal abortion services. The other order we are seeking have to do with the ban that was placed by KPMDU restricting Marie Stopes from providing certain information to adolescence on the basis that they felt it was not appropriate and in our opinion that was not well informed decision” said regional Managing for Africa Nyasha Chingore-Munazvo.
They claim that there’s a real danger that as a result of the denial of emergency medical treatment, any inordinate delay may exacerbate the medical emergency, leading to serious morbidity and in some cases, lead to a patient death.
In the petition filed at the Milimani Law court this afternoon, the organization has also named Kenya film and Classification Board and want the court to overturn a decision that banned advertisements related to public awareness campaign on comprehensive reproductive health services undertaken by Marie Stopes.
Three weeks ago Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board (KMPDB) banned Marie Stopes from offering any form of abortion services in all of its 23 facilities within Kenya.
The facility was also directed to submit, within 60 days, a report of the reviewed guidelines “to conform with the law.
Network for Adolescents and Youth of Africa alongside activist Jackline Mary Karanja have listed Attorney-General, the Health minister, the director of medical services, the medical board and the Kenya Film Classification Board as the respondents in the matter.
Countries that restrict access unless an abortion is necessary to protect the woman’s physical health include three European countries, Poland, Lichtenstein and Monaco – as well as South Korea, Jordan, Argentina and Costa Rica.
Among other countries protecting the woman’s mental health as grounds for access abortion are New Zealand, Israel, Malaysia, Colombia and Thailand.
