Do Jamaicans support abortion in Jamaica?

Abortion ... let’s get rid of those ancient laws

By Dr Dayton Campbell:

Abortion ... let’s get rid of those ancient laws

THE World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 22,000 abortions are performed in Jamaica each year.

Complications arising from unsafe abortion are among the top 10 causes of maternal death in the island, especially among teenagers. Review of legislation governing abortion has been 30 years in the making. Efforts by various governments to address these concerns have been halted by conservative religious groups not sensitive to the reproductive rights and realities of women, girls, their families and partners.

In Jamaica, Sections 72 and 73 of the Offences Against the Persons Act (1861) reads:

* Criminalise women who chose to terminate a pregnancy, who, if convicted "shall be liable to be imprisoned for life with or without hard labour."

* Criminalise medical professionals who facilitate a woman's exercise of choice to have her pregnancy terminated, and the parents and guardians who facilitate termination of pregnancies of girls under the age of 18. If convicted, they "shall be liable to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding three years with or without hard labour."

Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

Think! Does the illegality of abortion prevent its practice?

Is pregnancy only unwanted because the woman has been sexually reckless?

The answer to these questions is NO. The current law frustrates THOUSANDS of Jamaican women, the poor especially, who are in desperate need of abortion services. Nearly half of all pregnancies -- 41 per cent -- are unplanned (2002 Reproductive Health Survey); only 50 per cent of pregnancies were planned (2008 Reproductive Health Survey) In 2009, some 7,612 live births occurred to mothers under the age of 20 - a decrease from the 7,680 recorded at the end of 2008 (data obtained from National Family Planning Board - NFPB).

Eighty-one per cent of recent births reported by women aged 15-19 were unplanned. Nearly all of these unintentional births were mistimed (occurred earlier than desired) as opposed to unwanted (no children or no more children desired). The information is also obtained from the NFPB.

Who is affected?

According to the WHO, "abortions and complications thereof are the eighth leading cause of maternal deaths in Jamaica, affecting adolescents primarily". Between March 1 and August 31, 2005, there were 641 patients at Ward 5, which deals exclusively with abortions at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital.

All patients were from inner city communities, single, and nearly half were Christians, while a third were teenagers. About 40 per cent admitted to having had a previous termination of pregnancy and 30 per cent had two or more previous abortions.

Do Jamaicans support abortion?

YES!!!!!! Many of us support efforts to make services for the termination of pregnancy legal, safe and affordable. A 2006 public opinion survey conducted by Hope Enterprise found about "60 per cent of respondents support the legalisation of termination of pregnancy" under "special conditions" such as "incest, endangerment of the woman's physical or mental health and/or life".

From the public health perspective, we need to address these women who burden the public health system after botched abortion attempts. Evidence in Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, South Korea, Guyana and Barbados shows that where abortion is legal, maternal morbidity and mortality rates fall. Rates may initially seem to rise because of the previous under-reporting.

For women in the middle and upper income groups, the law can be circumvented by access to financial resources to pay for private medical services to procure a safe abortion. The law is restrictive and unjust to women in the lower income groups who cannot afford private medical services and therefore resort to the illegal informal market. In both instances, the quality of the service that the woman receives is entirely determined by the ethics and integrity of the individual practitioner. There are no minimum standards and no norms. Legal provision of abortion by qualified practitioners in both the public and private health care systems as recommended will ensure that safe abortions can be accessed by all women thus protecting their lives and health.

While debates on when life begins and ends may persist along the continuous range of religious perspectives, the realities surrounding this public health matter which affects so many women will not disappear unless addressed based on existing, objective realities. It is a woman's right to have all the options available to her, to be provided with information that allows her to make an informed decision, and not be persecuted for this decision. The State has a responsibility to ensure that the rights of all its citizens are protected.

The current illegal status of abortion in all circumstances exposes women to stigma and discrimination when they are faced with this choice. Women should not be punished for what is a difficult decision about their body, life and future. It is a misuse of Government power to take that right from them. Denying women access to medical services that enable them to regulate their fertility or terminate an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy amounts to a refusal to provide health care that only women need. Women are consequently exposed to health risks not experienced by men. Repealing the prohibitive provisions under the Offences Against the Persons Act concerning abortion, as recommended by the Policy Review Group would restore this right to women and prevent further stigmatization and gender discrimination.

Let us consider cases where:

- Contraception was used but it failed and the woman is not in a position to go through with the pregnancy and adequately support a child.

- The pregnancy resulted from rape or an abusive relationship.

- The pregnancy places them at severe mental, emotional and/or physical risk.

- The compromised development and health of the foetus.

To abort or not to abort is an extremely difficult decision for any woman.

There is not only the financial cost to consider, but risk to her mental and physical health as well. Adequate access to appropriate counselling services to help her consider all the options, strengthening of sexual and reproductive education at all levels, and the strengthening of family planning services, help women make the best choices.

Regrettably, pregnancy is often not a question of choice for women, not only in cases of rape and incest, but also in the everyday dynamic of gender relations where many women are subject to domination and/or the threat of violence from men.

We as a nation need debate this issue and lay the facts bare without shrouding them in misconceptions, prejudice and religious absolutism. It is about time such an important issue be dealt with once and for all, the women of Jamaica deserve no less.

What of the bright young 16-year-old girl in the inner city who is getting ready to do CSEC examinations and who is the only option to lift that family out of the abyss of poverty, who is sent for by the "don" in the community, then abused and subsequently takes the morning after pill but still ends up missing her period and later diagnosed as pregnant? Should she be forced to carry that child? Or to seek abortion on the black market? As a man of faith, I humbly suggest that we allow common sense to prevail.

Let me make it abundantly clear that I am not proposing abortion as a means of contraception, nor am I suggesting that mere poverty should be a reason for it, as I stand as a true example that it is possible to break the changes of poverty and rise from poverty to prosperity.

Of paramount importance is also the need to revise our adoption laws so that we can provide this service to those persons who are in need. I anxiously await a vigorous debate on this matter, as we seek to establish a new paradigm: to dispel myth and to embrace a true sense of liberty and prosperity.

Dr Dayton Campbell, a medical doctor and lawyer, is member of parliament for St Ann North West. His views do not necessarily represent those of the government.

June 01, 2014

Jamaica Observer

Abortion And The Stem Cell Bill in The Bahamas

Your Say: Abortion And The Stem Cell Bill

By PASTOR 
CEDRIC MOSS
Nassau, The Bahamas

 

WITH alarm and sadness, I listened to and read the comments of Dr Duane Sands about illegal abortions that are performed in the Bahamas.

 

I was alarmed because Dr Sands spoke with such certainly about illegal abortions taking place in this country, but never once did he hint his objection to this illegal practise, nor did he indicate that he has provided the police with whatever information he has about these crimes.

 

Certainly, since he is a lawmaker, there is a higher duty on Dr Sands to do all that is in his power to see that our laws are upheld, even if he happens to disagree with any of them as they presently stand.

 

Dr Sands is quoted as saying, “Just like numbers, Bahamians want to stick their head in the sand and not grapple with this very vexing issue that demands a national consensus, introspection to decide whether we believe that women in the Bahamas in 2013 ought to have the right to choose, since they are choosing now.”

 

However, what Dr Sands seems to miss is the reality that, while it is common knowledge that illegal numbers houses brazenly break the law because the government and police allow them to, only he and other insiders are aware of the illegal abortions taking place in this country.

 

Therefore, I and countless other Bahamians are not burying our heads in the sand about illegal abortions; unlike Dr Sands and other insiders, we just do not know.

 

In addition to being alarmed at Dr Sands’ comments, I’m saddened by them.

 

Dr Sands speaks about the killing of innocent babies through abortion using the sanitised language of women’s “right to choose”.

 

Right to choose what? To kill their babies? The sad, unvarnished truth is that since abortion on demand started in the USA in 1973, approximately 56 million babies have been killed there.

 

Worldwide, since 1980, it is estimated that approximately 1.3 billion babies have been killed through abortion.

 

Based on Dr Sand’s revelation, included in the worldwide estimate are perhaps tens of thousands of Bahamian babies similarly killed thorough abortion.

 

While everyone everywhere should have freedom of choice, no one anywhere should have the right to kill unborn children through abortion on demand.

 

Human life begins at conception, and societies show their civility and their fear of God (the Creator of all human life) by protecting it.

 

Dr Sands’ revelations about illegal abortions taking place in the Bahamas got me thinking more about stem cell research and therapy.

 

Clearly, Dr Sands’ testimony points to the inability (or the refusal) of the government and its agencies to effectively regulate and oversee medical practitioners.

 

Therefore, while I personally support ethical stem cell research and therapy (ie, using adult stem cells and stem cells from placental and umbilical cord blood), I have grave reservations about how effectively this activity would be regulated and overseen in the Bahamas.

 

If the wanton abuse of our anti-abortions laws is any indication (and I believe it is), I think it is reasonable to conclude that if the Stem Cell Research and Therapy Bill is passed, there will be those who, in an unhindered way, will illegally engage in activities that destroy, harm, and manipulate embryonic human beings (ie, embryonic stem cell research and therapy which the current bill claims to prohibit, but which will thrive in an environment where easy abortions are the order of the day).

 

And then years later, we will have a medical insider telling us that what the law actually prohibits in the area of stem cell research and therapy is actually taking place, so we might as well legalise it.

 

In light of this very likely abuse (and for a few other less important reasons), I oppose the passage of the Stem Cell Research Therapy Bill that is before parliament.

 

While still alarmed at and saddened by Dr Sand’s comments, I rest in the truth of Psalm 2 that reminds all leaders that they are subject to the Sovereign Lord, and that while God is patient to act, he is not impotent to act, and he will indeed act.

 

He alone is the Creator of life, and as his creatures, we should value human life and uphold human dignity. We all ignore this to our peril.

 

Cedric Moss is senior pastor of Kingdom Life Church. Please send comments to cmoss@kingdom-life.org.

 

Tribune 242

 

Bahamas Blog International

 

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

Bahamas Blog International