August 6, 2010

By Dave Andrusko

Congressmen Chris Smith

The results were overwhelming--a nearly 70% approval--and the absence of violence most heartening, so why would pro-lifers be unhappy with the new constitution adopted this week by Kenya, replacing the constitution first drawn up in 1963 when this East African nation won its independence from Great Britain?

For two reasons. Its support for abortion on demand and the inappropriate (to put in mildly) involvement of the pro-abortion Obama Administration in shaping the outcome.

A country that is overwhelmingly pro-life, as measured by public opinion polls, is now saddled with a constitution whose language does not contain any meaningful restrictions on abortion, despite recognition of the right to life from conception.

Kenyan law on abortion had required the opinion of two medical doctors who were in agreement that an abortion was necessary to save the life of the mother.

But according to Jeanne E. Head, R.N., National Right to Life Vice President for International Affairs and United Nations Representative, Section 26 of the new constitution "contains language which allows abortion when in the 'opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if permitted by any other written law.'" That is carte blanche language for abortion on demand, as decades of experience in the United States have demonstrated.

Also, as Congressman Chris Smith, along with other Republican members of Congress, has charged (and documented) repeatedly, the Obama Administration has spent at least $23 million to ease passage. They questioned the legality of the spending, since current U.S. law bars funding to advocate either for or against abortion, and the proposed document dramatically changes existing Kenyan abortion laws.

"In the run up to the August 4 referendum on the constitution--just like any other election-- the United States and other interested parties have a profoundly important, but narrow role to play," Smith said in statement released last week. "And that is to ensure to the greatest extent possible that the referendum is free, fair and peaceful. Under no circumstances should the U.S. government take sides by supporting, facilitating and funding projects designed to identify and motivate votes for either side. Yet that is precisely what the Obama Administration has done. And because the proposed constitution significantly alters existing abortion law in Kenya, expending U.S. taxpayer funds used in support of the 'Yes' campaign is also illegal."

Pro-abortion Vice President Joe Biden managed to take time out from a trip to watch the World Cup to fly to Kenya to speak in favor of the new constitution. Terrence McKeegan, vice president and senior counsel at the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, told National Review Online's Kathy Lopez that "Biden literally promised millions of dollars in new aid if the people only voted for the new constitution."

McKeegan added, "Many of the groups receiving U.S. funds have been promoting a yes vote, and some are openly pro-abortion groups, such as Development Alternatives, which received $3 million dollars and has openly supported 'advocating for efforts to eventually legalize abortion in Kenya.'"
McKeegan echoed Head's observation about the impact of the expansive language. "In every place where a broad exception for the health of the mother has been allowed, abortion on demand has resulted," he said. "This is because the pro-abortion NGOs like Planned Parenthood that help to draft this language have been very successful in pushing the idea that there is a right to maternal health -- even where the life of the mother is not threatened in any way -- that supersedes the unborn child's right to life."

Head, who is from New York, added that, "In New York state which allows state funding of so-called 'medically necessary' abortions, unlike the federal government and most states, the result is between 43,000 to 57,000 state-funded abortions of unborn children every year."

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Part Four
Part Five
Part One
Part Two