What would it feel like as a young, high school woman to be pregnant and alone? How would it feel to have no support from the father of her child, to feel scared or even terrified of the future, to not have help from the boy that she loved, who she thought would stand by her in her time of need?
This is the situation in many parts of Africa, according to Newton, our Kenyan pro-life leader. Young, high school aged girls feel pressured to have a boyfriend by both their friends and by their own desire to be completely loved. Many young men, on the other hand, believe that the purpose of a relationship is to have sex. So, while a young man is trying to win a woman’s heart, he is often also pressuring her to have sex with him, even if the woman is under the age of consent. This activity sometimes even turns into sexual coercion, putting the women in a very vulnerable and scary place. If any of these high school women do get pregnant, they are often left scared and alone. This is precisely when most abortions happen. The women feel utterly alone, desperately afraid, and incredibly troubled. They don’t know what to do, so they turn to something they falsely think will solve their problems.
Newton himself is the product of a teenage pregnancy, so this subject is something very close to his heart. His mother was in high school when she conceived, and almost aborted him because of this exact feeling of desperation. It was his father who saved the lives of both him and his mother by taking away the kerosene she was about to drink, an action which she thought would make her fears disappear. He gave her the support and comfort that she needed, saving them both from a certain death.
What should a healthy relationship look like? This is what the Kenyan pro-life leader at the University of Nairobi realized desperately needed to be discussed—it was the very root of the problem of abortion in the society around him.
Newton held an educational session for students on what a healthy relationship looks like, bringing the importance of chastity back into the conversation. Newton and his team trained a total of 1,200 students from two different schools, teaching them about the value of chastity and the harmful effects of abortion on both the baby and the parents.Â
In the days and weeks following his session, Newton’s phone continued to ring with calls from teachers who wanted to thank him. His training session had even had a positive impact on the students’ academics.
Newton’s insights show that there is a lack of social education specifically in Kenya, and in perhaps much of Africa. These young women and men don’t know what a good relationship should look like, one that’s not centered on sex and pleasure, but instead on genuine support and true intimacy.
Here at Pro-Life Global, we see the necessity of helping women; helping them choose life, but also preventing them from being placed in these harmful situations in the first place.
People all over the world need to hear this message and learn about the beauty that chastity brings. This message transforms people’s hearts, removing them from situations where they feel pressured to have both sex and abortions, and bringing them to the true version of love that God created for us.