This
is the second time this month that I can share with you some good news
out of Africa! Earlier this month I told you about how the Tanzanian
government had ordered a U.S. government-funded agency to cease running
its pro-contraception ads in that country. Now we have received the heartening news that the Kenyan government has ordered the abortion giant, Marie Stopes International, to cease all abortion services in Kenya.
Abortion
is mostly illegal in Kenya, with some exceptions. However, Marie Stopes
has been thumbing its nose at the government, by both advertising and
performing illegal abortions. In September the government had ordered
Marie Stopes to stop running illegal advertisements promoting abortion.
Astonishingly, however, the organization openly defied that ban, and
continued to run the ads. To ensure that Marie Stopes obeys the latest
order, the Kenyan Medical Practitioners Board has demanded that Marie
Stopes issue reports on a weekly basis for the next 60 days detailing
“all services rendered within all its facilities.”
Emil
Hagamu, HLI’s Regional Director in English-speaking Africa, told me
that when news of Kenya’s decision broke, he was in Mauritius with Ann
Kioko, the woman who led the charge...
