{"id":139636,"date":"2026-07-18T01:40:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/women-are-dying-in-africa-as-us-ramps-up-its-global-battle-against-abortion\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T01:48:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:48:30","slug":"women-are-dying-in-africa-as-us-ramps-up-its-global-battle-against-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/women-are-dying-in-africa-as-us-ramps-up-its-global-battle-against-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Women are dying in Africa as US ramps up its global battle against abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FILE
FILE – A woman walks past a billboard promoting the Safe Motherhood Bill on Wilkinson Road in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Caitlin Kelly, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Caitlin Kelly, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

KISUMU, Kenya (AP) \u2014 For decades, U.S. anti-abortion groups have lobbied domestically and abroad for restricting access to abortion<\/a>. In the U.S., their biggest success was the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Now, the Trump administration is delivering new momentum<\/a> to the movement exporting \u201cfamily values\u201d to nations overseas.<\/p>\n

At anti-abortion activists\u2019 annual March for Life demonstration in Washington, Vice President JD Vance announced sweeping new restrictions<\/a> on U.S. funding for nongovernmental organizations, foreign governments and U.N. agencies that promote access to abortion, gender-affirming care and diversity initiatives overseas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to start blocking every international NGO that performs or promotes abortion abroad from receiving a dollar of U.S. money,\u201d Vance told the crowd in January.<\/p>\n

The expanded restrictions build on the anti-abortion advocacy work carried out by conservative U.S. nonprofits abroad \u2014 especially in Africa, where healthcare is highly dependent on foreign aid. The region has the world\u2019s highest estimated proportion of unsafe abortions and highest maternal mortality rates<\/a> \u2014 including the highest number of maternal deaths per 100,000 abortions.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This is part of a series on maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa<\/a>, which has the world\u2019s fastest-growing population and accounts for 70% of global maternal deaths. Around 180,000 pregnancy deaths are recorded every year across the continent.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The new rules represent a radical expansion of earlier U.S. policy that cut assistance to overseas groups providing abortion-related services. Experts say at least $30 billion in U.S. aid could be affected, reshaping health policies worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing opportunity here to have a consistently pro-life ethic,\u201d Nicole Hunt of Colorado-based Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian evangelical group, told The Associated Press. \u201cWe\u2019ve been influencing health policies for a long time with our foreign aid. This is just a new direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the crosshairs is an international convention signed by African countries two decades ago declaring safe abortion a human right. Known as the Maputo Protocol, it obliges signatory nations to legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, fetal malformation or risk to a woman\u2019s health. But implementation has been spotty<\/a>, forcing women to seek illicit procedures. Every year, sub-Saharan Africa records over 6 million unsafe abortions, according to the African Institute for Development Policy.<\/p>\n

Emboldened by President Donald Trump\u2019s policies, U.S. anti-abortion groups now aim to overturn even this limited access to safe abortion.<\/p>\n

In Nairobi, Nardos Hagos of the International Planned Parenthood Federation said she is deeply worried for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve now moved into a new era where we are the ones who are in opposition because the most powerful and influential supporters of reproductive health \u2014 the U.S. and a lot of Europe \u2014 are now more aligned with anti-rights groups,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna see more women dying from unsafe abortions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Africa is the focus<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to track the full scope of the funding U.S. anti-abortion charitable groups send to Africa.<\/p>\n

Publicly available information from nonprofit tax filings of 17 such groups show money sent to Africa jumped 50% between 2019 and 2022, to over $16 million, according to an analysis by the Institute for Journalism and Social Change, a research group.<\/p>\n

And the funding kept growing: The organizations spent almost $9.4 million in Africa during 2023 and 2024, previously unreported data analyzed by the institute shows.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s \u201cjust the tip of the iceberg,\u201d said the institute\u2019s Claire Provost.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing here is just a fraction of what the real investment on the continent is,\u201d Provost said, noting that unlike other tax-exempt charitable organizations, U.S.-based churches and some religious groups are not required to complete annual financial disclosures detailing revenue, contributions and expenses.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not possible to see \u201ceven limited information\u201d about how much money The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, among others, funnel to Africa, she said.<\/p>\n

Widely known as the Mormon church, the Salt Lake City-based church is \u201dincreasingly active on the continent, including opposing sexual and reproductive rights issues,\u201d Provost said. With over 1 million followers in Africa, it has held \u201cStrengthening Families\u201d conferences throughout the continent over the past eight years.<\/p>\n

Sean E.R. Donnelly, the church\u2019s communications manager for Africa, said in an AP interview that about a quarter of the $1.5 billion the church spent overseas last year was in Africa, for development projects \u201cwith the goal of helping people, especially families,\u201d including in healthcare, education and emergency relief.<\/p>\n

Asked about women\u2019s reproductive rights and abortion, he said the church was \u201cnot really active\u201d in those areas, but noted the issues may be discussed by its African partners during church-sponsored conferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the deputy prime minister, we have the ministries of gender, we have all the ministers who are relevant to family, and we\u2019re helping them … as they craft policy and strategy to make sure that we protect the family,\u201d Donnelly said of the conferences.<\/p>\n

Asked about the church\u2019s position on abortion, he sent a statement outlining that it generally opposes elective abortion in most cases but allows exceptions for rape, incest or danger to a woman\u2019s health in counseling its members. He said via email that the church conducts no activities related to abortion and reproductive rights.<\/p>\n

Last year’s church-sponsored conference took place in Sierra Leone at a time when the country was close to decriminalizing abortion. But pressure from local religious lobbies stalled the process, local rights groups said. Activists and rights groups have raised the alarm over the influence of local religious groups, whose strategies mirror those of some conservative U.S. Christian groups. In response to AP\u2019s questions about the conference and any pressures around abortion and other reproductive rights issues, Donnelly said, \u201cThis is not how the church operates in Africa or globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also referred AP to the church\u2019s Caring Report, which outlines its humanitarian work globally and does not mention the conference.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tricky to determine how the U.S. money is spent once it reaches Africa because of loose requirements on disclosing financial data in African countries.<\/p>\n

Focus on the Family spent $370,000 in Africa between 2019 and 2023, according to the Institute for Journalism and Social Change, which says that likely does not fully capture the scope of the group\u2019s influence or work. Focus on the Family\u2019s Hunt said its mission is \u201cto change hearts and minds on abortion\u201d globally, but she declined to provide details of activities in Africa.<\/p>\n

Funding emboldens harassment of reproductive-rights groups<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hannah Ruguru vowed to help women get abortions safely after losing her sister to a backstreet procedure. But her work at a reproductive health clinic in Kisumu in rural western Kenya has proven increasingly hazardous.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s been screamed at by protesters and encountered so much abuse on Facebook that she deleted her account, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you can get scared,\u201d Ruguru said. But \u201cat the end of the day, I\u2019m helping women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marie Stopes International, which runs the clinic where Ruguru works, said in a 2024 report that staff in several African countries described online and legal attacks from U.S.-based groups and U.S.-funded local organizations. In Congo, it said, health workers have been detained for days for providing legally permissible services before being released without charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe extent of the opposition has made abortion providers fearful of coming into work,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

In Ethiopia, the group said, the head of the local office of U.S.-based Family Watch International has \u201ctargeted and trolled members of our senior leadership team on social media,” and released YouTube videos promoting anti-abortion misinformation.<\/p>\n

In Kenya, the names and addresses of staff at reproductive rights organizations have been published online, accusing them of murder.<\/p>\n

The owner of a private abortion clinic in Nairobi said staff members have been harassed by police and detained. Officials demand bribes, threatening charges if they don\u2019t pay up, the owner said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.<\/p>\n

Musoba Kitui, regional director of Ipas Africa Alliance, which promotes reproductive rights and access to safe abortion care, said the changes in U.S. foreign aid policy combined with \u201cthis advancing American interest in ideology in Africa is really concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think the consequences are going to be dire,\u201d Kitui said, especially for women and marginalized communities such as LGBTQ+ people.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a culture war\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, anti-abortion Christian groups from the U.S., Europe and Africa and high-ranking Kenyan officials gathered in Nairobi for a conference on \u201cPromoting and Protecting Family Values in Challenging Times.\u201d Poland-based anti-abortion group Ordo Iuris handed out a guide in four languages, including Swahili, with tips on lobbying international organizations, including the United Nations, European Union and African Union.<\/p>\n

Travis Weber, vice president of the Family Research Council, a Washington-based evangelical group active in anti-abortion advocacy, said he traveled to Nairobi to \u201cdefend the family as God designed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charles Kanjama, vice chairman of African Christian Professionals Forum, the conference organizer, said that previously international aid often supported reproductive rights \u2014 but times have changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hoping that … we can start attracting money from people who think like us,\u201d said Kanjama, among Africa\u2019s most prominent anti-abortion figures. \u201cIt\u2019s a culture war, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the anti-abortion agenda is gaining momentum. In June, representatives of 20 African countries finalized a draft charter at a conference in Ghana that calls for rejecting sexual and reproductive health rights. It will be voted on by the African Union next year. Family Watch International’s co-founder, Sharon Slater, was among those fundraising for the charter’s passage at the European Parliament in Brussels this year.<\/p>\n

Legal gray area<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Kenya, one of Africa\u2019s richest countries, seven women die every day on average from complications of unsafe abortions, according to the African Population and Health Research Center.<\/p>\n

The 2010 Kenyan Constitution permits abortion when a woman’s health or life is threatened. Subsequent court decisions have also allowed abortions in cases of rape, incest or serious threat to a woman\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

But there’s a major legal gray area. Kenya\u2019s penal code, which dates to the colonial era, continues to criminalize abortion providers and women seeking the procedure, who can face up to 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n

Most public hospitals don\u2019t perform abortions, leaving women the option of pricey private clinic procedures or risky illicit methods, healthcare officials said.<\/p>\n

In May, an appeals court in Kenya overturned a ruling that affirmed access to abortion is a fundamental right \u2014 a case led by Kanjama, who said the decision \u201crestored constitutional balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kenyan Health Ministry, Justice Ministry and the government spokesperson\u2019s office did not reply to repeated AP requests for comment, including detailed questions sent via email.<\/p>\n

The U.S. State Department, in response to an AP request for comment on the Trump administration\u2019s new rules governing American aid overseas, said: \u201cThe American people expect their tax dollars to support programs that save lives … and reflect American values, not fund abortion-related activities, left-wing social agendas, or wasteful overseas bureaucracies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cU.S. assistance continues to support a wide range of maternal and child health services as part of the America First Global Health Strategy,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

On the ground, women are dying from unsafe abortions <\/strong><\/p>\n

In Kenya, doctors are obligated to treat women suffering from post-abortion complications, often from underground procedures, including bleeding, infections and the loss of their wombs \u2014 and it\u2019s those cases that often end up in public hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time the women come, we are often dealing with a life-threatening situation,\u201d said Dominic Omollo, the reproductive health coordinator in Bondo, western Kenya.<\/p>\n

Even as the stated aim of U.S., international and Africa-based anti-abortion groups is to protect life, activists and healthcare providers say that on the ground, the result is more unsafe abortions and more women dying.<\/p>\n

In Karabok, a village in rural Kenya, two trees were planted at the site where Mary Olouch is buried, just feet (meters) from where the 25-year-old bled to death after an illicit abortion.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did not open up to anyone,\u201d said Loice Ochieng, a community health volunteer in charge of family planning in the village.<\/p>\n

Olouch already had a young child when she realized she was pregnant. She didn\u2019t tell her husband. When he came home one evening, he found her bleeding and rushed her to the hospital, but it was too late.<\/p>\n

Olouch did not qualify for an abortion in a public hospital and couldn\u2019t afford a private clinic on her meager income selling fish. Abortion carries enormous stigma in rural communities, and husbands often don\u2019t allow women to use contraceptives, Ochieng said.<\/p>\n

After Olouch\u2019s death, women started to talk more openly about abortion in Karabok, where for many even uttering the word had been taboo, Ochieng said.<\/p>\n

Now, she said, if women \u201chave a problem, they come to me, they ask. Because they have seen that this thing can cause death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Beaty reported from New York. AP writers Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi and Caitlin Kelly in Freetown, Sierra Leone, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___ For more on Africa and development: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/africa-pulse ___ The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The
The son of Mary Olouch, who died at 25 after a botched abortion procedure, holds a photo of her in her home in Karabok, Kenya, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Annie Risemberg)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Annie Risemberg)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Community
Community health worker Loice Ochieng stands over the grave of Mary Olouch, who died at 25 after a botched abortion procedure done without the help of healthcare professionals, in Karabok, Kenya, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Annie Risemberg)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Annie Risemberg)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"FILE
FILE – Anti-abortion activists rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during the March for Life in Washington, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana, File)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana, File)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hannah
Hannah Ruguru, a health worker at Marie Stopes clinic, sits in a consultation room in Kisumu, Kenya, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Annie Risemberg)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Annie Risemberg)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – A woman walks past a billboard promoting the Safe Motherhood Bill on Wilkinson Road in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Caitlin Kelly, File)(AP Photo\/Caitlin Kelly, File) KISUMU, Kenya (AP) \u2014 For decades, U.S. anti-abortion groups have lobbied domestically and abroad for restricting access to abortion. In the U.S., their biggest success […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-139636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139645,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139636\/revisions\/139645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139636"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=139636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}