Man in custody for killing his pregnant teenage girlfriend who refused abortion

A 19-year-old Kenyan man is in custody after allegedly murdering his 16 year-old girlfriend who refused his demands to get an abortion.

The pair attended school together, and local police say the boyfriend did not want the pregnancy to get in the way of their education. He pressured his girlfriend to abort, but she refused; this rejection is “believed to have precipitated the events leading to her death.”

The girl’s sister witnessed the suspect at their home, as well as her sister leaving with him. Later that same day, the victim and her preborn child were found dead — the teen with significant trauma to her head. 

According to Mwakilishi.com, “In response to the murder, an angry mob attacked the suspect’s family home, setting nine houses ablaze and destroying property, including crops. Local leaders have condemned the violence, urging the community to allow the legal process to proceed.”

Tragically, this young girl’s story is not unique. Around the world, pregnant women are often victimized or killed, particularly when they refuse the outside pressure to abort their children. Even in the United States, one of the leading causes of death for pregnant women is homicide. In some states, the alleged murderers of pregnant mothers receive murder charges for multiple homicides, acknowledging the reality that it is not just the woman who has been killed, but also the child she was carrying in her womb. 

In Florida in 2022, a young mother was similarly killed by her boyfriend and the father of her preborn child for refusing to get an abortion. In that case, police charged the boyfriend with double homicide for shooting his pregnant girlfriend, who was 12 weeks pregnant. At the time of this case, abortion was still legal in Florida up to 15 weeks, highlighting the subjective nature of allowing preborn children to be killed if they’re unwanted by their mothers, but calling it homicide (rightly so) if they are wanted. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed six-week protections for preborn children into law in the state in 2024.

These stories serve not only as reminders of the reality of domestic violence and the vulnerability of pregnant moms and their preborn babies, but also show the devastation that occurs when a society does not value life.