Maria Tomlin | Abortion: convenient murder

This is an open letter in response to Member of Parliament Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn on her presentation in the Lower House on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.

I am strongly moved to convey my dissent regarding the proposed adjustment on abortion. I can understand and appreciate the fact that there are some unique/peculiar cases where an abortion is deemed necessary. But to project a general opinion that it's the woman's body and she should be free to do what she pleases, is where my disagreement lies.

A foetus in the womb is a miracle given by God, and I am so glad there is a law to protect the unborn.

"My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in a book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:15-16 NIV.)

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jer. 1:5 NIV.)

When you abort a child, it's not just an unwanted child. You are murdering someone who could be a prime minister, a doctor, teacher, etc. Every human being was created with and for a purpose by God our creator, and, I dare say, even the child from a rape, because God in His wisdom allowed the conception.

Mrs Cuthbert-Flynn, in her presentation, made reference to a survey that reports that complications from abortion were the eighth leading cause of mental-related deaths among adolescents in Jamaica.

 

Long-time effects

 

My sincere empathy to the family of that 20-year-old from her constituency who died from a botched abortion, but I hasten to add that it is also factual that many women suffered psychological/emotional trauma after having an abortion, which can have long-time effects.

My suggestion to Mrs Cuthbert-Flynn is to use her position in Parliament to:

(1) Help to establish homes/centres for women who have been raped, have an unplanned pregnancy, or having difficulties in maintaining a child, so they can receive professional counselling, therapeutic treatment, moral support, among other things.

(2) Establish more adoption centres and implore those who can, to take a child.

(3) Seek to implement ways to educate and promote the use of birth control and/or abstinence in our young women.

There was a very popular advertisement in the 1980s chartered by the Family Planning Board: 'Bev Brown and Judith Smith, the maths brain from primary school'. It certainly had a great impact on society then. I suggest we become rigorous in getting messages like these out in the society. We need to promote such advocacy in schools, churches, community centres, media houses, social media, billboards, etc.

While society and opinions change, there are some morals, values, and principles we MUST endeavour to hold on to for the good of the future of our country.

There are far too many methods of birth control that are available for us to be encouraging abortion. "We MUST learn to respect life, and conception is where it begins," a writer once said.

I appeal to our parliamentarians, and Mrs Cuthbert-Flynn in particular, to think carefully about the God-given rights of the unborn who deserve the right to life and purpose. Think carefully about the life of this human being who is defenceless. Let's shift the focus to being responsible rather than to partake in murder.

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