Muslim leaders oppose Susan Kihika’s bill over abortion proposal

- Clerics said a provision allowing “all individuals” to make reproductive health decisions will be abused

- They said only prophets could tell whether a physical abnormality is incompatible with life

- Evangelical clerics and the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops have fiercely opposed the Bill

- The religious leaders called on God-fearing Senators to kick out Kihika’s Bill over its ungodly provisions

Muslim leaders in the country have joined hands with their Christian counterparts and other pro-life groups in condemning the controversial Reproductive Health Bill sponsored by Nakuru senator Susan Kihika.

The leaders protested that a provision in the proposed law allowing “all individuals” to make reproductive health decisions could be easily abused by persons hell-bent on corrupting the country’s social and moral fabric.

The provision is seen as a calculated move to legalise abortion, which is currently a crime in the country.

Speaking in Nairobi, the leaders singled out recent findings that revealed alarmingly high teenage pregnancies across Kenya as one of the main reasons they were against the proposed legislation, which they said had vague definitions.

“The bill provides for blanket reproductive rights to everybody, including minors, without the input or consent of their parents or guardians,” said Hassan ole Naado, the national chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM).

According to SUPKEM, the bill left ample room for abuse of the right to life law by presuming that a pregnancy may be terminated if there is substantial risk that the foetus may suffer from severe physical and mental abnormality that is “incompatible with life outside the womb”.

“This severe abnormality that is incompatible with life outside the womb is not defined and opens the door for abuse. Unless you are a prophet, how would one tell that this physical abnormality is incompatible with life?” they stated.

The clerics further expressed concern that a provision in the bill that allows for persons with mental disability to make decisions regarding the termination of pregnancy goes against the 2010 Constitution of Kenya, which is clear that any person of unsound mind has no such capacity.

On Sunday, June 30, members of the Kenya Christian Ministers Forum fiercely opposed the Bill, terming some of its provisions as wicked and abominable.

The evangelical clerics called on God-fearing senators to kick out the Reproductive Healthcare Bill 2019 over its ungodly provisions.

“It legalises the killing of disabled and mentally-retarded children in their pre-born stages of life. Every unborn child has a right to life,” they stated, saying Kenya does not have a place for a bill that normalizes underage sex, encourages same sex marriages and teaches that sex is for pleasure.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops has declared its outright opposition of the proposed legislation.

Last week, Kenyans joined hands in roundly condemning the bill that seeks to deny some children the right to life.

Some lobby groups held anti-abortion demonstrations outside Parliament, where Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa, who chairs the Catholic Parliamentarians caucus, voiced his total opposition to be proposed law.

If passed into law, Kihika’s bill will govern how assisted reproduction is performed, who performs it, and under which environments.

The proposed law is silent on gay couples or singles as well as about a child’s right to know its biological parents when he or she reaches age 18.