Gay rights, abortion not included in reform of Constitution – Morgan

Efforts by Jamaica to undertake constitutional reform will not touch issues related to abortion and gay rights.

Robert Nesta Morgan, Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Information in the Office of the Prime Minister, made the disclosure at a post-Cabinet press briefing this morning as he responded to concerns about a member of the government's Constitutional Reform Committee.

Some local Christians have raised concerns that Canadian Professor Richard Albert, who was named on the 14-member committee last month, has distinct pro-LGBT and pro-abortion bias.

Religious leaders have called for Albert, the only non-Jamaican on the committee and who has previously worked with a number of countries in modernising their constitutions, to be removed.

Addressing the issue, Morgan stated that the constitutional reform process “will not disturb such wide range of issues.”

He said that the focus is on guiding Jamaica's transition from a constitutional monarchy to a republic. 

“The issue that consumes the conversation is not a matter that is being contemplated by the Government,” Morgan said. 

Further, the Minister noted that the committee is representative of a wide cross section of society including the church and dismissed suggestions that any individual will have undue influence on the reform process. 

“In bringing the committee together, the government was very cognisant of getting the views of a wide cross section including the church. And I don't suspect that any…as the church may contemplate or as this particular representative of the church may contemplate that there'll be anyone who can dominate a debate or a conversation on the committee. But give credit to those on the committee, they are very strong individuals of intellect, competence and consequence,” he said. 

Three provisions under Jamaica's 1864 Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA) – sections 76, 77, and 79 – explicitly make buggery illegal.

Under this same act, a woman can be imprisoned for life at hard labour for having an abortion.

And anyone who aids in an abortion can be jailed for up to three years.

In the wake of the United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling last year, Albert told KVUE news in Austin, Texas, that the decision would not necessarily prevent abortions but force women to seek unsafe means to undergo the procedure.

“It is very sad. It's a devastation for the country, for women and anyone who believes in fundamental rights and freedom,” he was quoted as saying.

He has argued that if the US overturns its previous ruling on same-sex relationships, it would be a fundamental breach of the right to privacy for all, including homosexuals.

Albert believes that the right to privacy in sexual relationships between two persons, whether they are of the same sex or not, should be respected.

Among those voicing objection to Albert's inclusion is Bishop Dr Alvin Bailey, chairman of Jamaica CAUSE and president of the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance.

Telling The Gleaner recently that he does not speak for all church groups on the island, Bailey asserted that unofficially they all have disapproved of Albert's appointment. 

“We are against it because he is a non-national. The Constitution is our local document, which will be sacrosanct, legal and binding ... . I believe that no outsider should have a part to play in its construction,” he added.

- Sashana Small

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