EDITORIAL - Women's right to choose fundamental

This newspaper thanks Ms Lisa Hanna, the minister of youth and culture, for reopening, however clumsily, the debate on abortion in Jamaica.

But it is high time that Jamaica moves beyond talk. Our hope now is that the Government, of which Ms Hanna is a member and is led by a woman, and of a party that declares itself progressive, will do the logical thing and legalise abortion.

We, however, do not underestimate that courage required for Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to lead her government to such an action.

For as with the issue of advancing gay rights, Mrs Simpson Miller, and her colleagues, will be bombarded with loud life-at-conception and personhood-of-foetus declarations of the Christian fundamentalists and others intent on maintaining the status quo. The danger here is that the politicians will equate the decibel of these claimants to a loss of votes at the polling booth.

That, in our view, would be to misread popular sentiment - even among churchgoers. Abortion and gay-rights issues are different planes. There is, we believe, majority support for the former.

Of greater weight is the fact that legalising abortion would give to women a fundamental right to which they are now denied: control over their bodies and reproductive health.

Broadly, it ought to be no one's business should a woman decide to terminate a pregnancy, once she is able to have the procedure done by qualified health professionals and is afforded adequate counselling. If there is to be a debate, it is the period in a pregnancy beyond which its termination may not be allowable.

Beyond the fundamental right of women over their bodies are the socio-economic issues related to unwanted pregnancies raised by Ms Hanna.

It is poor women who, by and large, are denied access to safe abortions, and, therefore, risk unhealthy and, often, life-threatening options. Those who can afford it can, despite the law, find health professionals to perform the procedure.

Further, unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, mainly to teenagers and young adults, usually trap them in a cycle of undereducation and poverty, from which their children also find it difficult to break out.

Of course, access to abortion is not the ultimate answer to these issues. Education and economic growth are. But women must have the right to choose.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.