AFRICA/KENYA - "The abortion bill is contrary to morality and the Constitution"

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic Church of Kenya has opposed the bill on reproductive health care 2019, presented by the senator of Nakuru, Susan Kihika.
In reiterating her concerns regarding the bill on serious moral issues affecting the right to life, the dignity of every human person, the integrity of the family and the education of children, the Catholic Church under the aegis of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) says the bill is unconstitutional.
The position of the Church was presented by Fr. Ferdinand Lugonzo, professor of Canon Law at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, before the Senate Health Commission chaired by Senator Michael Mbito. Fr. Lugonzo reiterated that the bill is incompatible with the constitution, which embraces the dignity and right to life that begins at conception and ends with natural death.
Quoting sections 18, 23-30 of the bill, which sanction the killing of the unborn child, Fr. Lugonzo noted that abortion practices contrary to Articles 26 (2) of the Kenyan Constitution are proposed. The Reproductive Health Care Bill presupposes a hazy set of rights, called reproductive rights, that undermine the right to life, protected by Article 26 (1) of the Kenyan Constitution.
The bill under discussion, said Fr. Lugonzo, devalues the sanctity of life by disqualifying the constitutional, moral and scientific position according to which life begins at conception and ends with natural death, attempting to redefine when life begins. In the assisted reproduction process, thousands of fertilized eggs (embryos) are discarded before implantation; this is in reality abortion and the denial of the right to life and human dignity.
This devaluation is discriminatory and can lead to forcing health care workers to go against their conscience and practice abortions, thereby limiting the freedom of conscience protected by the Kenyan Constitution.
Fr. Lugonzo also added that the bill encourages eugenics, that is, the selective breeding of the human population. In this way, the bill seeks to give way to the abortion of children with disabilities and special needs. This is an evil condemned in 1945 by the United Nations and outlawed by the Nuremberg Trials. Since abortion and the science of eugenics have been deemed crimes against humans and, the Catholic Church in Kenya has asked the Senate to withdraw the bill because it cannot be amended in any way. (B.L.) (Agenzia Fides, 23/9/2020)

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