In Kenya there is discussion about abortion laws, and how they unfairly target the poor as those with money can pay for the care they need.

There are two paragraphs in this piece that need to be required reading for those suffering from Empty Vessel Syndrome*

*This is a syndrome where the sufferer believes women are only for procreation and servile purposes.

If there was an understanding of the following, there would logically follow an understanding of the need, the right, to control ones own reproduction.

WHAT IF WOMEN LIVED FREE from sexual violence? What if women had access to information and services regarding reproduction that enabled them to make informed choices as to the exercise of their sexuality? What if the consequences of such choice were in all cases equally borne by the men and women concerned? What if those consequences did not include unequally sacrificing women’s educational and employment options? What if the cost of bringing up children (including not only education and healthcare but also women’s unrecognised and unremunerated roles within the family) were not only borne by the women involved but also by the state? What if?

If all of those ‘ifs’ were also being addressed by those who would deny women the right to termination of pregnancy, their position would have more legitimacy. As it stands, however, it is utterly unreasonable to expect women to bear all pregnancies to term.