The majority of people in the West support a woman’s right to have abortions and most countries in the West allow it. And if they don’t, the cry from the general public is setting them on a path of change.

Kenyan authorities have banned the international health organisation Marie Stopes from offering any form of abortion services in the country.

According to The Guttmacher Institute which is a research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, roughly 93% of women of reproductive age in Africa live in countries with restrictive abortion laws. And in countries where the law allows abortion under limited circumstances, it’s likely that few women are able to actually obtain a safe, legal procedure. So Kenya is in no way acting out of the ordinary considering its an African country.

Even here in the UK Ealing council in West London voted to introduce a Public Space Protection Zone like a buffer zone to ban pro-life vigils outside a Marie Stopes abortion centre and many of the people that hold these prayer vigils are Christian. And I as a Christian understand their motive – wanting to protect unborn children but I've always disagreed with that kind of delivery. I don’t think most women decide easily to have an abortion and I can imagine the last thing they want to be added to their plate is someone making them feel guilty for what they may or may not do. They could be arriving at the centre simply to talk about abortion as an option but I don’t think we have a right to force our own opinion on other women. We don’t know peoples stories, how they have come to be pregnant or why they feel they cannot carry that child and give birth to it. If I got pregnant now I would keep it but that’s easy for me to say – I’m married, my husband and I work, we have a home and we have both agreed we want another child. But what about people that can’t say the same. People that have been raped, people that don’t feel financially capable of raising a child, people that aren’t emotionally stable enough to cope with giving birth to a child only to give it away once they have. What about people that can’t for health reasons carry a child without putting their own life at risk. The list can go on an on and on far beyond the point where I can judge anyone for that choice they make.

In Nigeria, Abortion is only permitted to save the life of a woman, to preserve physical health, and apparently to preserve mental health.

Two physicians are required to certify that the pregnancy poses a serious threat to the life of a woman for an abortion to be permitted. That doesn’t mean women and girls aren’t doing and taking dangerous medication to abort children. That’s the biggest issue with banning abortion, you can’t ban coat hangers as well or medication that has side effects that can lead to miscarriages. Females find that back street alley to do whatever they need to do.

You can listen to Nigerians sharing their thoughts on abortion here on The So Aff Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/thesoaffpodcast/is-it-time-to-do-something-about-the-limited-access-to-safe-abortions-in-africa