Dangerous reasons for amending abortion law
Published:Saturday | June 29, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
As vice-president of the National Democratic Movement (NDM), I am cautioning Youth Minister Lisa Hanna and the PNP-controlled Parliament against changing Jamaica's abortion law based on US studies that cannot be generalised but show mere correlation to reduction in crime and not true association with the real nature of the nation's criminal problem.
That the laws are old does not necessarily imply that they are ineffective in safeguarding against the repercussions that could emerge among providers, as well as recipients of abortions, if inappropriately changed. We need not catch a cold every time America sneezes.
The proposed legalisation of abortion is an ill-perceived shortcut to repeated governments' neglect of the young, poor, and unemployed who live in economically and socially deprived communities. We cannot solve our problems by continuing to lead the horse by its tail.
The issues of the marginalised in our population would be more effectively alleviated if government ministers and other parliamentarians would follow the example of US President Barack Obama in forfeiting five per cent of their salary, and using this for recurrent campaigns aimed at empowering our underserved population.
Studies and projects in the US have identified education and skills training of underserved populations in society as factors having direct association with decrease in crime. Any amendment to this act related to abortion must be done for the right reasons and must provide safeguards against irresponsible practitioners, while ensuring proper regulation.
The NDM's position on the subject mandates that because Jamaica is a declared Christian nation with particular perceived moral standards and because this is an emotive subject, any plan to legalise abortion must be put to the people first and decided in a plebiscite.
Let the people decide!
APOLLONE REID (PhD)
Vice-President, NDM