Exactly a year ago, an 18-year-old girl (whom, for legal and ethical reasons, we shall refer to as JMM) died.
While her death went unnoticed, her name and experiences will forever be etched in history as one of the petitioners who brought the discussion of unsafe abortions, whose complications claimed her life, to the corridors of justice.
The landmark ruling delivered on Wednesday in the High Court was the culmination of a campaign that began after Nation published JMM’s story on February 2015.
She was, by then, a 15-year-old Form Two student from Kisii who was undergoing dialysis at the Kenyatta National Hospital due to kidney failure as a result of abortion-related complications.
The abortion that cost Sh1,500 was procured by a chemist who used metal rods to try to terminate the pregnancy.
At the time, she told Nation: “I regret what happened, but I am angry because I know that there are other girls who will go to that same chemist and they might die.”