Francine Black, Staff Reporter DR. JOSEPH Hall, retired head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gyn-aecology at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, is challenging medical doctors in Jamaica to lobby the Government to legalise abortions.
In a presentation at the fifth International Conference on Adolescent Health and Welfare and World Youth Forum at UWI on Wednesday, Dr. Hall said that the rate of maternal deaths has remained constant for too long and abortions were a main contributor to the continuation of this rate.
He said the maternal mortality rate in Jamaica has been 110 per 100,000 for the past 12 years and it was time the medical profession push the Government to address the issue.
LEGALISED AND REGULATED
"The medical profession in Jamaica should advocate that abortion be legalised and regulate it," he said.
Pointing to a study done between 1993 and 2003, Dr. Hall noted that abortions were found to be the third leading cause of maternal deaths in Jamaica. The study showed that gestational hypertension/pre-eclampsia was the leading cause of death accounting for 27.4 per cent of maternal deaths. Medical disorders were second, accounting for 17.6 per cent while abortions accounted for 13.7 per cent.
The medical practitioner was quick to point out that he was not sanctioning risky sexual behaviour among adolescents by legalising abortions. However it has been proven that most of these pregnancies are unplanned and since some adolescents decide to get rid of them, Dr. Hall said a doctor should be able to facilitate abortions in a safe and legal manner.
Abortion has been illegal in Jamaica for a long time, and the absence of this option for some teenage mothers has been driving a black market for the drugs which are used, forcing some to engage in unsafe and risky procedures.
"It is time that we legalise abortions in Jamaica. If abortions were legalised, we wouldn't have this black market going on," Dr. Hall asserted.
The black market reportedly involves the illegal distribution of pills and the practice of unsafe surgical procedures which are offered on the street and other 'shady' places.
Of even greater concern was the fact that the pills (used to terminate pregnancies) were being sold in double dosage more than the acceptable medical standard and could have serious health implications for those who take them.
Dr. Hall is proposing that the Government legalise these drugs mifepristone and misoprostol.
Both have been approved by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA), and are being used in the United States and Europe. This method he said was safe as long as it was done within the early stages of the pregnancy, having a 95 per cent success rate.
Additionally, the use of the drugs does not affect the fertility chances of the mother as is possible during surgical procedures.
John Junor, Minister of Health, told The Gleaner yesterday that if abortions were considered a serious risk to adolescent health then it would be addressed.
"If it is perceived to be a major problem it will receive adequate attention from the ethics committee set up by the Ministry of Health," he said.
Teenage pregnancy has been a concern in Jamaica for many years. For the past decade the number of teenage pregnancies average about 8,000 each year. However there have been several organisations and interventions in recent times to encourage youth to practise more sexually responsible behaviour.
