US President Trump Aid Cuts Forces Kenyan Women to Seek Backstreet Abortions

The withdrawal of funding by United States president Donald Trump administration from non-governmental organizations providing family planning services in Kenya has led to rise of unsafe abortions, CNN reports.

The international media reports that an increase in dangerous backstreet abortions has been reported in Kenya since the cut of aid by Trump.

Family Health Options Kenya (FHOK) and Marie Stopes International are among institutions that have been offering family planning services to Kenyan women, but the withdrawal of aid by Trump’s administration have left them unable to continue operating.

Dija, a young lady from Kibera says she used to get contraceptives at FHOK for free,  but she is now forced to part with Sh400 to access the service. Unable to raise the Sh400, she got pregnant with her third child in October.

 However, she was not ready for another kid, which forced her to seek abortion pills from a backstreet clinic in the slum estate.

“I couldn’t give birth because my husband is not supporting or helping me, so I decided to terminate the pregnancy. I thought that was the best option,” she said in an interview with CNN.

However, the procedure left her bleeding for more than a month since it was not done properly, she told CNN.

Wilson Bunde, a Clinician who works with FHOK said it was unfortunate that women like Dija who previously accessed free family planning services are forced to seek it from backstreet clinics, which put their lives in danger.

FHOK had been getting aid from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), a global provider of sexual and reproductive health services. With Trump’s abortion policy, the institution has lost $100 million funding from United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Elizabeth Wanjiru, a health worker in Kibera told CNN that cases of backstreet abortions have been on the rise in the area since US cut the aid.

“This is why you will find babies aborted, due to lack of access to family planning,” she said.