I am aware of the concern over abortions here in Jamaica and how botched abortions cause women to die. There have been calls to fix or clarify our local abortion laws which seem to prohibit all abortions. In the United States recently, there was a case in the Supreme Court regarding a New Hampshire law. This law says that before a doctor performs an abortion on a minor, a parent of the minor must be given 48 hours notice a courtesy? This courtesy is the conflict, for some say that in an emergency, there is no time and that the New Hampshire law does not make any provisions for emergencies. This is what some would say about our Jamaican law.
Another judge in the U.S. Supreme Court voiced his fear that doctors could usually find some physical or mental health threat to justify an abortion. In my mind, his fear is one of abortion-on-demand. I fear this is where Jamaica is heading.
From my perspective, all abortions are wrong. Abortion murders an innocent child. Whenever the baby is the primary object for removal, the procedure is called an abortion. If a mother had cancer of the uterus and removal of the uterus is done while she is pregnant, then this is not called abortion. The real object for removal was not the living child, but instead the malignant cancerous uterus.
Romain Stewart, romainstewart@inbox.com
SHOCKS AND RECOVERY
Throughout the past year, Jamaica has suffered from many shocks. We have seen almost exponential increases in oil prices and in the general price levels. Hurricane and major flood damage have contributed to shortages in ground and other fresh produce. Already, farmers are saying they cannot adequately recover from the damage to be able to meet the demands of consumers for the Christmas season. Already it is evident that consumer confidence and spending are not as low as some persons had predicted. However, inflation levels seem clearly justified to be increasing around this time of year.
We can use this present situation to prepare for the next economic year. I suggest the Government put proper procedures and plans in place for disaster relief as well as plans to feed the nation in case of shortages in food items. I suggest we find some way to preserve the excess ground and fresh produce we create. Maybe we could consider freezing or canning methods to compensate for shortages in the future. We could avoid disruptions in budget targets, business and consumer confidence and policies actually meeting their predicted aims.
Hodine Williams, hodine.williams@uwimona.edu.jm, Kingston, Via Go-Jamaica
NECROPHILIA
Some years ago when I was a social work student at the University of the West Indies, I recall one lecturer in a psychology class, relating the story of what happened in one of her counselling sessions. She said that her female client came in with the problem of having to bathe in iced water before her husband would have sexual intercourse with her.
On listening to the story, the counsellor enquired as to what work the husband did for a living. The reply was that he worked at a morgue. Logically, it was either that he liked handling the dead or he was having sex with the dead (necrophilia). The recent May Pen case therefore, if not cultish then may be a case of necrophilia, outside of just trying to rob the dead. What will they do next?
Let me add that in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSMIV-1996), necrophilia along with several others including homosexuality are all described as Sexual Orientation Disorder; but in 1976, by a vote of the board of the American Psychiatric Association, homosexuality was removed from the list, assuming that these individuals feel no discomfort with the act.
Elvena Williams Reittie, Kingston 8
