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How latest ruling on safe abortion will help address maternal deaths

How latest ruling on safe abortion will help address maternal deaths. [iStockphoto]

A High Court ruling this week declaring safe abortion a constitutional right has massive implications for hundreds of thousands of women and girls with unintended pregnancies.

The ruling stems back to a ban arbitrarily placed on reproductive health care services provided by Marie Stopes International Kenya. A few months after joining Amnesty International Kenya in 2018, I found myself in a tense, closed-door meeting with leaders from the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network, and the Centre for Reproductive Rights. For two hours, we debated the ethics of reproductive rights, questioned the legality of the Marie Stopes ban, and weighed its potential harm to thousands who depend on their services.

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