Appraisal Of The Proclivity Of Kenyan Secondary School Girls To Procure Abortion In Light Of Value Of Human Life

ABSTRACT

Cases of abortion among female students in secondary schools in Kenya are high. Although some of the abortions have been successful, other cases have had portentous implications. If this trend is not checked, Kenya could be faced with a major crisis in learning institutions as more girls will be edged out of school due to health complications or death. This study sought to investigate why secondary school girls persistently procured abortion amidst evident health risks involved, legal constraints and societal ethical expectations. This study was guided by the following study objectives: to find out why secondary school girls procure abortion; to critically analyze the place of value of human life in the abortion decision and to offer possible remedies to the challenge of abortion among secondary school girls in Kenya. This study was guided by the deontological moral theory that appeals to the innate human reason to establish clear criteria for what constitutes moral action because abortion is a moral action and a student is expected to act in accordance with and for the sake of moral duty .The study combined two philosophical methodologies namely: Conceptual Analysis and Phenomenological Analysis. This combination of methodologies was based on the assumption that underneath the perceived causes of abortion lay a fundamental cause that conceptual analysis alone could not adequately unearth. Owing to the sensitive nature of the study topic, respondents were assured of utter confidentiality and for anonymity of respondents, code names were used. Based on the respondents‟ personal experiences, the study established causes of abortion among secondary school girls as: desire to complete schooling, social isolation, poverty, peer pressure and parental pressure. However, underneath these causes lay a fundamental cause: one‟s personal conviction of the value of human life. Knowledge of aspects of beginning of human life, personhood of the foetus and concepts of value of human life at the foetal stage of development determined whether a pregnant student would procure an abortion or carry her pregnancy to term. The study proposed some responses to the challenge of abortion including proper and perpetual guidance and counseling, mentoring programs and reproductive health education among others. The study recommended that a similar study be carried out in primary schools and institutions of higher learning and on larger scale preferably countrywide in order to reinforce the generalized finding.