Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris has said that she put her daughter on birth control pills at the age of 16.
Speaking when she appeared on Citizen TV’s Day Break show on Thursday, Passaris said she knew her daughter’s friends were engaging in premarital sex and would influence her.
She said she put the minor on contraceptives to stop her from getting unwanted pregnant at an early age.
“Her friends are already having sex, I had it at a later age, my mother didn’t know about it and at the end of the day, I felt that it was important to take my daughter to a gynecologist,” she explained.
She added: “I took her to my gynecologist in Nairobi and I said to my gynecologist, I want her on the pill, put her on the pill at the age of 16.”
The 54-year-old politician said that although her daughter protested, she explained to her why it was necessary to take birth control pills.
“Parents have got to be realistic, by putting my daughter on birth control, I made sure that abortion does not become the birth control,” she asserted.
Passaris and other panelists were discussing the abortion ruling issued last week by the High Court.
The judges ruled that abortion remains illegal in Kenya and that it can only be induced if the life of a mother is in danger.
Her remarks sparked a debate on social media, with a majority of users accusing her of poor parenting.
Ali Guyo said: “Disgraceful of the MP.”
David Galgallo posed: “16-year-old? This is wrong! We should teach our children why they should not have sex before marriage rather than giving them birth control pills. This encourages them to have unprotected sex.”
Passaris is a mother of two; a daughter and a son. Her daughter is now 23 years old.
Parenting is not easy how…
Parenting is not easy how about STDS..HB after 18 Hauwezi decide for them only Mother/Father advice
My thoughts exactly! She can…
My thoughts exactly! She can contract HIV/hep C! No to mention the long term adverse effects of the birth control drugs.
When does this woman work???
When does this woman work???
I don’t think as a good…
I don’t think as a good mother, I would cite my daughter to the public as an example especially in Kenyan culture, maybe I’m overly protective of my children and court of public opinion…… …..
When Politians have Nothing…
When Politians have Nothing to say: They say Dumb and Good-for-Nothing things (at Tax-payers’ expense).
FG2, right?! I am beginning…
FG2, right?! I am beginning to think Miguna was right when he accused this lady of being sex crazed. Airing her dirty laundry in public. I wonder what her kid thinks about this. I hope whilst she was dishing out those pills she was also showing her how to don a juala. There are things out there worse than a pregnancy. Just saying.
bring back chastity belts…
bring back chastity belts,Opened by codes only the mother knows.make it hard for locksmith.
Anyway, since she brought her daughter in the picture,let her tell us why the 16 year old protested.She may have some sensible reasons to consider,after all its her body.
For those who are saying -poor parenting,why are you judging her by one “criteria”? She could be doing everything else very well…that is parental wise.
OBGYN can give your daughter…
OBGYN can give your daughter contraceptives pills but that does not mean she will be swallowing them everyday. What about HIV and other STD? Did you get her condoms?
Instead of standing up and…
Instead of standing up and parenting, rather than teach upstanding moral values to your child and insist on abstinence, you opened the gates. You’re a very pathetic and immoral woman. Did you also tell her how many times a day, a week or a month that she should have sex. Did you consider the flood gates of emotions and rush of hormones that sex must trigger to a child of 16 years and what to do about it? Parents like yourself ought to be in prison rather than ruin lives innocent children forever.
Mwororo, abstinence should…
Mwororo, abstinence should be taught together with birth control and STD prevention. Abstinence alone rarely works. I have previously referenced studies that indicate higher pregnancy rates among conservative Christian teenagers compared to liberal teens. The only conservative teens who fare better are those in strict Muslim traditions. I am currently in Kenya and I am more shocked when a woman makes it to 25 without getting pregnant out of wedlock yet our churches are overflowing on Sundays.
@Nani, I appreciate your…
@Nani, I appreciate your concern with our teens and the scourge of teenage pregnancies. I am sorry Iam not familiar with the study you’ve aluded to. My position is that the value of any scientific social study is as good as the players behind the study, and it’s objectives both overt and covert. Birth control industry has become a money minting merchine. The contraceptive market size is poised to reach $34.6 billion by 2023 (ref:GlobeNewswire). Think about it. Muslim traditions, as you’ve indicated has managed to hold back this disaster ravaging our children and yet the rest of us have given up, surrendered and because we want to feel like we’re still fighting and trying, we claim that all we can do is both – birth control and abstinence. But things don’t work out that way. When you have many options you become reckless and cannot prioritize. We can have abstinence alone if we dare but not with parents like Passaris who have been made lazy in parenting by the convenience of another option, the birth control. @Nani, I don’t know how old you are but am of the age group of the people whose moms didn’t have an option besides abstinence. When my mom was a teenager, not one of her peers ever became pregnant out of wedlock or as a teenager. Why did it work for them? I guess you can say they had traditions. @Nani, our children of current times have too much freedom and we’re paying the price for it. Excessive freedom is the mother of the careless attitude we got across the globe. The, it’s me, it’s my life -attitude at the exclusion of what is good for the society has given us the LGBT and such like vices facing the world today. A life without boundaries, without rules is lawless life. As parents, we have given in to the illusions of our children. We fear that we might hurt their feelings and by been soft as parents, we’re daily ruining their lives. So, once they get tired and bored by normal sex life (which they start very early) they will try LGBT life and tell us, am homosexual and because we’re a part of what went wrong and it’s too late to fix it, we end up saying, I love you just the same. Just now, like the Muslims, we can go back to our traditions and rescue our beloved children. We are tired of children who are also parents- the tragic aspect of our lives today, guess what, it’s our choice and we can change it.
I suspect being a lot older…
I suspect being a lot older than most Mwakilishi readers. Yes, I come from that generation whose parents abstained until marriage. Sadly, that generation is far gone. The reason why liberal countries like Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark fair a lot better is because sex education starts in most places at four. Conservative Christian communities teach abstinence which simply is unrealistic this day and age. The only reason conservative Muslim nations fair better is due to the consequences of sex before marriage. I am suspecting Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi etc are not in your radar of places to raise a family or even visit. African Muslim teens face the same crisis as their Christian counterparts. I intend to inform my daughter and son of all options and consequences of each. After all, didn’t TD Jakes daughter get pregnant in the early teens? Options and information have made teens in liberal Europe to delay sexual activity while lack there of has been disastrous to Christian and some Muslim teens. Men talk about their sexual conquests and mostly speak of sleeping with churched girls. It’s quite a common discussion both in Kenya and in the diaspora. A member of Parkland Baptist, a huge church in Nairobi which I attend while in Nairobi, narrated to me recently of the sexual immorality they have to deal with in their church by both kids and adults. The responsible thing to teach this day and age is making all options available. The abstinence only horse bolted from the barn 30+ years ago.
Ati these are our leaders!…
Ati these are our leaders! They outwardly look descent & well mannered but inside are full of dead peoples bones! She also supports LGBTQ rights! I guess she tells her daughter it’s o.k to be a lesbian!Just look at how fast these people are leading innocent children to immorality!
Am very impressed with her…
Am very impressed with her forward thinking. My daughter will be on the pill too once she is of age. Prevention is better than cure. She has done well…. Wanawake wa Kenya are making strides one young lady at a time and there is no shame in birth control.?
Why would she do that and…
Why would she do that and the girl is not even active. Huu ni ujinga. Kupatia mtoto stress za bure za kumunywa dawa kila siku plus a reason to be sexually active. Those pills come with consequences, stroke being one of them. And as someone said, how about HIV protection.
What is it with Christians…
What is it with Christians and wanting to bury their heads in sand about sexual activity among their teens? Study after study indicates higher sexual activity among Christian as opposed to liberal teens. Give your kids options so that they are equipped rather than surprised without. It took me 30 seconds to google the study below
https://world.wng.org/2007/08/sex_and_the_evangelical_teen