Abortion — Jamaica needs a real SOS

BY ANDREW KING:

THE World Health Organisation study suggests global abortion rates are steady at 28 per 1,000 women a year.  However, the proportion of the total carried out without trained clinical help rose from 44 per cent in 1995 to 49 per cent in 2008.  Unsafe abortion is one of the main contributors to maternal death worldwide, and refers to procedures outside hospitals, clinics and surgeries, or without qualified medical supervision.  Women are more vulnerable to dangerous infection or bleeding in these environments.

In developing countries, particularly those with more restrictive abortion laws, most abortions are unsafe, with 97 per cent of abortions in Africa described this way.  In comparison, 95 per cent of abortions in Latin America were deemed unsafe, falling to 40 per cent in Asia, 15 per cent in Oceania and nine per cent in Europe.  To compile the figures -- often a difficult task in countries where abortion is illegal -- the researchers at the Guttmacher Foundation used surveys, official statistics and hospital records.  They concluded that, while the abortion rate had fallen since 1995, that drop had now levelled off, and overall, the rise in world population meant that there were 2.2 million more abortions in 2008 compared with 2003.


In the Caribbean, Cuba followed the communist world in legalising abortion; Puerto Rico is part of the USA where abortion is legal and Martinique, Guadeloupe and the French side of St Maartin have legal abortions.  Barbados became the first country in the English-speaking Caribbean to introduce abortion legislation in 1983 with the passage of the Medical Termination Pregnancy Act.  The Act permits legal abortion to save the life of the woman, if the child is likely to suffer severe abnormalities, for rape and incest, to protect the physical health and mental health of the woman, and for social and economic considerations.  Doctors are also expected to provide those seeking abortions with counselling, the scope of which is outlined in the regulations.  The Government of Guyana, in 1995, enacted the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, the Act stipulates that abortions can legally be done, but there are conditions that must be met.  In Guyana, abortions must be done by a qualified medical practitioner who is certified to conduct the procedure.  The Act also requires the termination to take place in a safe place.  Women who wish to terminate pregnancies undergo a strict process whereby they are counselled and told about the pros and cons of such an act.  Those women are also given 48 hours to talk with her friends and family and the partner who has caused the pregnancy to make that decision.

Studies have revealed that 1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons, that is the child is unwanted or inconvenient.  The truth is, in Jamaica, one of the greatest cycles of injustice against our children has been allowed to continue.  one of the causes of child abuse is the bringing into the world children by parents who are unable to cope, did not want or plan the conception, or in other ways had no business having children due in part to their inability to take care of them, and the lack of proper parenting skills.

The Government has to spend more than $436 million to operate eight Government-run children's homes and places of safety.  In her sectoral presentation, Minister Hanna reported that the "weekly cost of $13,000 per child or $676,000 per child per year.  We currently have 334 children at these facilities."  This is simply unsustainable.  Correct this historic wrong.

abking020@gmail.com

July 22, 2013

Jamaica Observer

Although abortion is currently illegal in The Islands ...the Bahamian government stated that abortions are performed in The Bahamas on “grounds of foetal deformity and rape or incest ...as well as on health grounds

Bahamas Called Out On Abortions

By NOELLE NICOLLS
Tribune Features Write
nnicolls@tribunemedia.net

Nassau, The Bahamas

Although abortion is currently illegal in The Bahamas, the government revealed that it is aware of cases where licensed physicians perform abortions in private and public hospitals for justifiable reasons.

Such abortions are made possible because “the law is interpreted very liberally”, according to a report submitted by the government last month to the international committee of the United Nations governing discrimination against women.

During its fifth periodic report to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the government stated that abortions are performed in The Bahamas on “grounds of foetal deformity and rape or incest, as well as on health grounds”.  CEDAW is an international human rights treaty that focuses on women’s rights and women’s issues worldwide, ratified by The Bahamas in 1993.

“Abortions are usually performed within the first trimester, although they are often allowed up to 20 weeks of gestation.  The abortion must be performed in a hospital by a licensed physician.  Government hospitals bear the cost for non-paying patients,” states the government’s CEDAW report, which is available online.

Despite the report’s detailed account of the practice as it occurs in The Bahamas, the Bahamian government “avoided answering specific questions” posed by the experts on the CEDAW committee about the availability of statistics regarding state-sanctioned abortions, according to observers.

“Their fall-back position that abortions are illegal was inadequate, because the committee was not asking about illegal abortions.  The committee was asking for statistics on state-sanctioned abortions, which the government, in its written report, suggested occurs,” said Donna Nicolls, civil society representative for The Bahamas, and presenter of The Bahamas Crisis Centre’s shadow report.

“The Cuban representative on the committee said she was not convinced by the government’s response.  She said that normally statistics on illegal abortions are not shown; however, if the state says that abortion can be practised in a safe space, she questioned why the state doesn’t have statistics.  If it is being done, certainly a register would be maintained,” said Ms Nicolls, who participated in the forum through the assistance of the International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW), Asian Pacific.

Former Minister of Health Dr Hubert Minnis said he had “no comment” on the abortion issue, because he was in “Abaco campaigning.”  When asked if he was aware of any state-sanctioned abortions from his five years in government, he replied: “No comment.”

A respected medical doctor, who works in the public system, told The Tribune, there are no statistics on abortion because the market for abortions in The Bahamas is underground.  The physician said the practice is governed by a “nod and a wink” culture, quietly supported by some licensed physicians.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell,” said the physician, but you can obtain an abortion in The Bahamas for around $750, although the price varies above and below depending on the physician or the location.  Access to abortions, he said, is rife with class discrimination.”

“If you have the means to an abortion, it is not a big deal.  You can travel, or you can have it done here safely, but if you are a poor woman, then dog eat your lunch.  This becomes a massive issue, but how do you deal with this issue, when it is taboo. It is absolutely taboo,” said the physician.

“You have such a strong pseudo-Christian movement that is so hypocritical.  Many people are just not prepared to deal with the backlash, despite the fact that quietly they will either perform abortions or see to it that they get done.  Some of the most active abortionists who have moved away from it in the later years, you wouldn’t think they have ever performed an abortion,” the physician said.

“Ethical and less than ethical means of abortion exist in The Bahamas.  The challenge is that it is not codified.”

Abortion is criminalised in The Bahamas through the Penal Code of 1924.  In its “very limited” references to abortion, it allows “for abortions to be lawfully permitted under specific circumstances relating explicitly to the preservation of the mental and physical health of the woman and to save the life of the woman.”

However, the law also states that acts that lead to an abortion or are intended to cause an abortion that done “in good faith and without negligence for the purposes of medical or surgical treatment” are justifiable.  According to the government report, the code does not define what constitutes medical or surgical treatment, and in practice, the law is interpreted very liberally.

The CEDAW committee reiterated its “concern” in its concluding observations, and called on the government to “broaden the conditions under which abortions can be legally available.”

Ms Nicolls said she concurred with the committee’s recommendations.

“Women should be able to access legal abortions without question in cases of rape and incest and in other circumstances where a woman’s health is at risk.  The law should explicitly provide exceptions in those cases.  It should not be ad hoc, or based on a ‘liberal interpretation’.  Everyone should have equal access,” said Ms Nicolls.

Melanie Griffin, Minister of Social Services, could not be reached for comment and did not return calls.  Barbara Burrows, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Services, who was a member of The Bahamas’ delegation, said she would seek answers to written questions provided by The Tribune.

August 14, 2012

Tribune242