THE EDITOR, Sir:
FREDRICK E. Nunes, in the 'Letter of the Day' for January 13, suggests that the reason the abortion law has remained unchanged in Jamaica up to now is that it really is "not in any way a hindrance to women in the middle and upper class." He also wrote: "We have no sense of urgency, because none of us who read or write letters to the editor is at the slightest risk of an unsafe
abortion."
Is legislation or lack of it the real reason for unsafe abortions among poor women? Anyone who wants to procure an abortion in Jamaica can find out quite easily where to find the 'doctor' who would willingly take her money (be she rich or poor) in exchange for her baby's life. 'Doctors' and other 'specialists' have been doing these procedures for years without a blink from government authorities, so why the sudden urgency?
How long has it been since 'poor' women have been dying from 'back-street abortions'?
Since the late1990s, between 20,000 and 30,000 babies being killed in the womb each year, how many of these have been 'unsafe abortions'? A well-known Kingston clinic used to offer 'abortion on demand', one only had to claim contraceptive failure. Who cared that these 'mothers' were mainly schoolgirls; defenceless, scared and unaware of the trauma they were to experience?
I find it fantastic that in a land where abortion is illegal (with the few exceptions), we could tell that 30 per cent of teens have had at least one; and we can then hazard a guess that the figures are much greater than any that have been revealed.
Those who are performing abortions are making millions of dollars per year. The same doctors who botch the abortions now will be the same ones doing them legally. They simply need to get rid of the current threat and be free to kill as they please.
The first case in years of the law being 'consulted' on this matter was the one in recent times in which a doctor was reportedly brought before the medical council after a woman died from his handiwork. With the zealous drive now on, and the urgency to legalise abortion, one has to wonder ... was that all a ploy, a part of a bigger plan?
Sir, poverty, in my opinion, has nothing to do with this
problem that we face.
I am, etc.,
CHRISTINA MILFORD
Pregnancy Resource
Center Jamaica
C/o fosford@hotmail.com.
