I was watching NTV news yesterday @ 9pm and a particular piece struck me. There were three wrapped babies (fetus) found dumped somewhere in Murang’a after an abortion carried out elsewhere. The fetuses were dumped at night and as usual, the police boss for that area said his boys were investigating the unfortunate incident. Then the reporter asked His Eminence Cardinal Njue – a man I respect a lot for his achievements and what he stands for what he felt about abortion, to which he replied,
“No one has authority over that life……blah, blah”
I know he was looking at it from a purely religious point and looking at it differently I do not agree with him on this one just as I did not agree with his predecessor Mwana a Nzeki on so many issues – especially on the use of contraceptives like condoms.
See, there is a misconception with these men of the cloth that life begins at conception, i.e. when the two gametes (sperm and the ovum) meets and fertilize to form an embryo. If life begins then, does it mean that the said gametes were dead before? If you believe the answer is yes; how and where did two dead organisms ever come together to form something living? Going by this, I have every reason to believe all the gametes must be living even before they met.
If I remember what I learnt well, the sperms use the Darwin evolution theory -survival for the fittest. i.e. the predominant one gets to fertilize the egg. What happens to the millions that do no make it? They of course die after 3 to 4 days. Who takes account of these “lives”?. The same scenario also plays itself during the recurring menstrual cycle in women where “lives” get lost and no one complains. That then means that we are all mass murderers!
Apparently, there is a bill in parliament that seeks to address reproductive issues abortion being one of them. As the Njoki Ndung’u sexual offenses bill did, this one will bring forth an interesting national debate with the pro and anti abortionists trying to prove their points over the media. Whatever decisions the MP’s make,I have a feeling that women should have the right to control their fertility and have a choice to either carry on a pregnancy or terminate it at will by provision of safe and legal abortion.
AOB:
Christmas finally is gone. With it went many goats, chickens, cows, and lot of cash. The year that is will remain etched in many; a Kenyan memory is finally gone. My hope is that the current global recession occasioned by the financial crisis stabilizes and that what happened to Kenya a time like this last year this never to happen again.
Have a blessed 2009!
I’m with you on this one. What people forget is that the fact that it’s illegal doesn’t prevent women who want to abort from doing so. It does endagers their lives.
I find it very comical that it’s mostly men (of the cloth) willing to cast the first stone at women who procure abortions. I doubt they know what really goes through a woman’s head as she lies on that ‘doctor’s’ table.
I’m all for legalising it, but this must be implemented alongside concerted efforts to teach the youth on contraceptives and making these available, because most of the people who go for backstreet abortions have abused or aren’t aware of their options upfront.
By: pinkmemoirs on December 29, 2008
at 7:41 am
mboiz & pink m: I am with both of you on this one. Let’s legalize this and work on a broader framework as well.
Do these clergy men really think that a woman is not able to reflect on life from her own perspective and that she really needs advice from “eminences” on this?
By: Rafiki on December 29, 2008
at 7:02 pm
The way I see it, in some cases it shud be allowed. Such cases where the child might have retarded growth. It is better than having to give birth to a special child who will never be able to fend for himself in his life. On the other hand, if a woman is not ready to become a mother, safe sex rules. Lets kill them in millions by suffocating them in contraceptives.
By: bomseh on December 30, 2008
at 8:14 am
Its such a sensitive debate that I prefer to sit on the fence. Lets hope the new year brings blessings n enough cushions if the recession decides to follow us into the new year
By: ---Supreme-G.R.E.A.M--- on December 31, 2008
at 4:19 pm
Mboiz…….I have had a refresher course of my high school biology, some terms, I haven’t heard in a really long time.
Never thought of things from this perspective either….sperms are babies and so are ova…….mmmmh!
By: Mama on February 3, 2009
at 7:24 am