Catholic Voice

 Abortion in Kenya

Catholic Voice readers may recall the explosion that took place in Nairobi, Kenya this past July as a mixed group of Christians gathered to protest the inclusion of a pro-abortion clause and other provisions for sharia courts in the proposed new constitution for Kenya.  Kenya is 80% Christian. Abortion on demand has never been legal in Kenya.  Despite twenty years of dialogue leading up to the newly accepted constitution, the contentious clauses were not even introduced until 2009.  One cannot help but wonder if the abortion-minded Obama administration and the promise of $23 million in USAID had anything to do with it.  Some other friars and I were even detained by the Kenyan Police whilst the so-called Catholic Vice President Joseph Biden lobbied for the new constitution.  Apparently, Catholic religious posed a huge security threat to the VP and his wife.  The new constitution sadly passed despite the strong opposition of the Kenyan bishops.

So there I find myself a few months later in Eucharistic Adoration in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel adjacent to Holy Family Cathedral in Nairobi.  I providentially cut my holy hour short by ten minutes since the floor in the overcrowded chapel had become too uncomfortable for my aching back.  Then in the cathedral a brief visit to the memorial of John Paul the Great’s visit during the African Synod in 1995 was interrupted by a young woman seeking to talk.  It turns out she was coming to me in desperation.

The Abortion that Wasn’t???

The 21 year old university student, who shall remain anonymous to preserve her confidentiality, had twice tested positive on self-administered pregnancy tests.  Both her boyfriend and an older cousin tried to convince her not to abort her baby and offered their unflagging support.  Unsure, she turned to Marie Stopes in Nairobi who affirmed her fears and uncertainties.  She was told that abortion on demand is not yet legal in Kenya but that she knew doctors who would do the deed if she wished.  After vacillating back and forth, she, like too many ill-advised young women, decided to go for the illegal abortion. 

What happened next cannot be considered anything less than doubly and brutally abusive by Marie Stopes and the rogue abortionists they are in league with!  You judge for yourself.

The distraught girl showed up for her appointment.  You see, it had been explained that she could terminate her pregnancy by means of a simple injection and a few pills and that surgical abortion was not necessary since she was only seven weeks pregnant.  To the young woman, this translated that she was not really having an abortion which she knew was wrong since the procedure was not surgical.  Accordingly, she consented to an injection of the cancer drug methotrexate which in non-cancer patients acts as an abortifacient by treating post-implantation embryos as cancer cells which are broken down.  The human remains are evacuated five to seven days later by means of another drug, misoprostol, which the woman self-administers at home.  It all seemed simple enough for only 6000 Kenya Shilings (54 euro).

By the afternoon of that deadly day, the young woman was riddled by the thoughts of what she had done to her nascent child.  She knew beyond doubt that she had killed her tiny child, and the immense guilt and regret were unbearable.  ‘If I could only go back to that morning,’ she tortured herself weeping inconsolably, ‘I could spare my baby’s life!’

The Rest of the Story:  What Really Happened

Unfortunately, time travel is impossible, and the choice to abort is irreversible once the deed is done.  Yet that is where this story takes an unexpected twist. 

At my recommendation, the grieving young uni student agreed not to return rogue agencies such as Marie Stopes and their scofflaw abortion providers.  Instead, I found her a reputable Obstetrician Gynecologist.  She even asked me to accompany her because she feared the legal ramifications of her actions.  The doctor (again to remain anonymous for the sake of confidentiality) allayed her fears by assuring her that she is not the only one and that he is there to help.  He added that at Kenyatta National Hospital there is an entire wing almost exclusively, if unofficially, serving the victims of so-called safe abortions.  He had worked there as an intern and knew the scene first hand.

The doctor ordered a scan which revealed that the young woman had a “blighted ovum” (i.e. anembryonic pregnancy) which is a fairly common occurrence.  Some refer to it as a “missed” miscarriage because it happens so early in pregnancy that the woman often fails to realize she had even been pregnant.  Basically, a “blighted ovum” is when due to chromosomal abnormalities at the moment of fertilization, an embryo never forms although the amniotic sac and placenta develop normally.  This results in a positive pregnancy test since hormone levels increase as in a normal pregnancy even though there is no embryo.

The points however are evident as follows: 

·      Marie Stopes ultimately and illegally referred a vulnerable and distraught woman who was not even pregnant for an abortion.  Pro-life services such as Ask Majella in Ireland, the Woman’s Network in Northern Ireland, and similar agencies in the USA, the UK, and internationally routinely confirm the actuality of a pregnancy by employing the services of competent medical professionals—typically at no cost to the woman. 

·      Abortionists—and I refuse to defame the term doctors by using it for baby killers—simply cannot and should not be trusted to offer proper care to the woman whose baby he is only to ready and willing to kill for cash.  They have more in common with mafia hit men who are paid to kill than doctors who work to heal—sometimes for free like the doctor in Kenya.  Political and judicial bosses like Obama in the USA and Harney, et al and her friends in the courts are like Tony Soprano who orders that babies get whacked!

It is just too bad that there is not a drug that can destroy the cancer of abortion.  Only unconditional love can do that!

This feature is categorised under Life Matters