Implement fully High Court ruling re-affirming Women’s Right to Reproductive Health Information and Services immediately: SRHR advocates demand
By George Morara
On December 18, 2025, the High Court of Kenya handed adolescents and young women starved with information on Sexual Health Rights an unforgettable Christmas after seven years of a legal battle.
Justice Chacha Mwita delivered a landmark judgment, striking down unlawful bans that had restricted public access to reproductive health information and services in Petition No. 428 of 2018.
However, behind this celebration are mind boggling numbers of fatalities arising from unsafe abortion as it remains a leading cause of preventable maternal complications and death
among women and girls in Kenya, particularly adolescents and young people.
“An estimated seven women die each day from abortion-related complications,” a joint study by the Ministry of Health, the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) and Guttmacher this year revealed.
Between April 2023 and May 2024, there were over 792,000 induced abortions, approximately about 57.3 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–49 in Kenya alone.
According to Martin Onyango, Associate Director, Africa Legal Strategies at the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), this is a clear indication that access to reproductive health services and information needs to continue, to ensure women and girls can make informed decisions, prevent avoidable deaths, and seek safe, legal care when needed.
“The Court has sent a strong message that state agencies cannot misrepresent the
law or block lawful abortion services.
“This ruling protects both health workers providing care and women seeking it and brings much-needed clarity to Kenya’s constitutional framework,” he said after the ruling in which the Court found that that the directives issued by three government agencies barring Marie Stopes Kenya from offering abortion services, post-abortion care, and related public information were illegal.
Justice Chacha Mwita quashed decisions made by the Kenya Films & Classification Board (KFCB), the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC), and the Director of Medical Services (DMS), terming them unconstitutional, unlawful, and ultra vires.
In the ruling, he insulated the petition, filed by Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa–Kenya (NAYA-Kenya), Jackline Mary Karanja, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) advocates which sought a legal declaration that the unlawful bans blocked the public from accessing reproductive health information and services.
Justice Mwita held that none of the three bodies had the constitutional or statutory mandate to impose the restrictions.
“The court has found the decisions to be ultra vires, unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional, and orders of certiorari are issued quashing all three decisions in their entirety,” he ruled, sending the packed courtroom into a frenzy.
Argued by the CRR, the petition challenged three bans imposed in 2018 against Marie Stopes Kenya (MSK). The bans prevented MSK from providing abortion-related services and disseminating information on access to sexual and reproductive health care.
According to CRR, the three institutions had blocked a lawful public awareness campaign and prohibited MSK from offering abortion care, including post-abortion care, an essential emergency service.
In August 2018, MSK Kenya began a 9-week public awareness campaign on Comprehensive Reproductive Health and Information together with Radio Africa group of Media houses with an aim of providing adolescents and youths with relevant SRH information in addressing the rising morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion in Kenya.
Shortly after, three government parastatals gave out directives in their respective areas, banning the campaign and the services MSK were offering, including Kenya Film and Classification Board on the information campaign, KMPDC on abortions services and Director of Medical Services on Post Abortion Care services.
The High Court allowed the petition in its entirety, quashing all three decisions for being unlawful, illegal, and unconstitutional. The judgment strengthens the rights to access accurate lifesaving information and services, ensuring that all Kenyans can exercise autonomy over their reproductive health without fear or barriers.
“This constitutional victory must now lead to real change, accessible services, trained providers, and the free flow of accurate information,” CRR and NAYA-Kenya said in a joint statement after the ruling.
In October 2025, the High Court of Kenya struck out a provision of the 2022–2032 National Reproductive Health policy for being unconstitutional. It introduced the “highest attainable standard of health care of the unborn” as a precondition for access to abortion care.
In Petition no. 027 of 2022, the CRR represented the Kenya Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (KOGS) as an interested party. The Court affirmed that access to abortion is a constitutional right under Article 26(4) of the Constitution, which centers on the life and health of the pregnant person. It further held that policies and guidelines cannot impose additional conditions or limitations beyond those expressly provided for in the Constitution.
According to Timothy Thondu, a legal adviser at the CRR, Africa Justice Mwita’s judgment is a major victory for women, girls, and young people in Kenya, and it sends a
clear message that state institutions must act within the law and cannot stand in the way
of lifesaving sexual and reproductive health information and services.
“The Court’s decision is an affirmative recognition that unlawful regulatory overreach cannot be used to undermine access to lawful health services.
“By quashing these decisions, the High Court has upheld constitutional accountability and protected institutions and practitioners from arbitrary and unlawful action. 7 years is a long time to wait, but finally, this matter is settled,” he added.
However, whereas, the ruling is a major step towards safeguarding the constitutional progress on the SRHR, the advocates say, still more needs to be done.
While accusing government officers of impunity by blocking young people from accessing the critical SRHR information, Victor Rasugu, the Executive Director, NAYA-Kenya, called on the Government to fully implement Justice Mwita’s judgment immediately. He explained that this will ensure that no institution interferes with lawful reproductive health information or services.
“For years, government officers have acted with impunity, denying young people access to sexual and reproductive health and rights information, despite the clear need to empower them to make informed decisions about their sexuality, he said, noting that the ruling is an affirmation that young people, health providers and those in the education sector have the right to provide accurate sexual and reproductive health and rights information.
He also called on the government to provide clear, accurate public guidance on access to legal abortion and postabortion care, in line with the Constitution and public health evidence.
“End stigma and censorship around reproductive health services and information so
that women and young people can seek care without fear or discrimination,” he demanded even as globally, health advocates have vowed to fight back on what they term as impunity by the US government, which they accuse of putting in place major barriers against access to healthcare services.
“We are fighting back,” a statement from CRR global office reads, pointing out that extremists are banning health care, surveilling women experiencing miscarriages, and blocking access to safe, effective medication.
“This is cruel, and unacceptable,” it continues in a new campaign seeking petitions against the President Donald Trump administration as a form of a gift to the crusade by 11:59 PM on December 31 to earn a 5X, a fundraising incentive, promising to match donations by five times to support the efforts of SRHR advocates in fighting “escalating attacks” on reproductive health and rights championed by the CRR.
“The campaign is all about the impact on our lawsuits against the Trump administration, cases on behalf of women and families denied essential care, and the ongoing work to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to the health care they need,” the statement reads.
These campaigns aim to raise funds to counter the administration’s policies, especially those concerning abortion access and the redirection or freezing of federal funds like Title X, which provides family planning services.
