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| MP Millie Odhiambo (left) and Peter Kaluma (right). |
Suba North Member of Parliament Millie Odhiambo-Mabona has called for the speedy passage of the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill, 2022. MP Millie Odhiambo (left) and Peter Kaluma (right). Why Millie Odhiambo was bitter Speaking in Parliament
On Wednesday, December 5, Millie protested the delay and the passage of the bill she sponsored. The National Assembly Minority Whip lamented that the relevant committee’s leadership was absent in the house despite the bill being listed on the order paper. “When it comes to my bill, the chair and deputy are suddenly absent. I have been in this parliament for a long time., I know when we are filibustering,” Millie said.
Standing on the point of order, Millie, who has never hidden her childlessness, said the lawmaker delaying the bill would deny women who cannot be able to give birth a chance to have a child. “Let my bill pass; we are the women; I am the one who does not give birth and would want to give birth. The honourable members who are delaying are going to make me have a child at 60, and I should have had a child at 40. and harass me I need to have a child, and I need a child now, and I need a law to enable me to have a child,” she protested.
Millie has been pushing for the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill 2022 and the Family Reproductive Health Care Bill 2022 after previous attempts failed. Assisted medical reproduction, as proposed in the bill, involves using technology to achieve pregnancy. Examples include intrauterine insemination, where sperm are placed in a woman’s uterus to facilitate fertilisation.
There is also In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) where the eggs are harvested and put together with sperm in a petri dish and fertilised, and then the embryo is transferred into a woman’s womb. According to the Bill, a person qualifies for assisted reproductive technology where it is certified by a medical doctor and cannot use that procedure for any purpose other than human procreation.
by Amos Khaemba