My country Kenya has recently been caught in the wave of pro-choice and pro-life debate as one of the main hospitals carrying out legal abortions was asked to shut down. Many young women have taken it to social media to argue the same old narrative that women should be allowed to do whatever they please with their own bodies. However another group of women are of the opinion that the child too does have a right to life and that abortions are immoral and should be illegal. The foundations of the pro-choice arguments seem to rest on the fact that women should be allowed to do choose whether they want to be mothers or not and that being given the option to choose one of the ways that we can uplift women.

The question I would like to pose to such thinkers is: if women are forced to choose between them or their baby, essentially two options, do they really have the freedom of choice. Why can’t both mother and child thrive? We need to create social structures where women can have children without fear of stigmatization or a complete halt to their lives should they be young mothers or students. I think this is the best way to uplift women instead of creating conditions where its either them or their baby.