A document leaked from the US Supreme Court reveals that the country could overturn a long-standing legal right to abortion, allowing individual states to ban it.

Half of the pregnancies in Kenya are unintended with 60 percent of them ending up in unsafe abortions according to a new report.

According to the State of World Population 2022 report, released by the United Nations Population Fund, unsafe abortions in Kenya are resulting in about 2,600 deaths of women and girls annually.

Unsafe abortion is one of the leading contributors to maternal deaths around the world.

“Not all unintended pregnancies are unwanted. But the majority of unintended pregnancies end in abortion, making the human rights perspective on abortion highly relevant to states and policymakers,” the report says.

The report also indicates that rates of unintended pregnancy tend to be lower in countries in which abortion is allowed on socioeconomic grounds or on request) than in those with more restrictive laws.

“This is a notable correlation, though not a matter of causation: liberal abortion laws themselves likely have no impact on the incidence of unintended pregnancy,” the report indicates.

Contraception is key —  but not enough

The report observes that Contraception is one of the most obvious areas for investment in reproductive health and rights.

“Globally, an estimated 257 million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe, modern methods of contraception, and of them, 172 million women are using no method at all (UN DESA, 2021),”.

 According to the report, while contraceptives are critically important, they alone are not sufficient to control unwanted pregnancies.

 “Lack of awareness about, and lack of access to, contraception are no longer leading causes for non-use”.

These barriers are reportedly now overshadowed by concerns over side effects, myths, stigma and opposition from others.