In Kenya, a conservative country that has long restricted access to reproductive care, many women and girls resort to desperate measures – using knitting needles, drinking bleach, taking unidentified pills or ingesting traditional herbs – to terminate their pregnancies.
Although Kenya has gradually liberalised its abortion laws in recent years, activists are concerned that the overturning of Roe v Wade by the US Supreme Court could set back their progress.
But they are determined to continue their fight, drawing inspiration from Latin America, where three countries have expanded abortion rights in the past year.
“The wave that started in Mexico, in Argentina, in Colombia, is catching fire in Africa,” said Tabitha Griffith Saoyo, a Kenyan lawyer working to expand reproductive rights.
“There’s room for Africa to lead… to show that…