The Editor, Sir:

I have been following the debate on abortion ever since an advisory group appointed by the Ministry of Health reported the problems women were facing in the public health system because of unsafe or botched abortions.

It is a very controversial issue and I commend the Govern-ment's courage to take this on despite the unnecessary furore that some church voices have created.

I saw in The Gleaner of Tuesday, September 9, a note from Dr Doreen Brady West claiming that the proposed bill contains fines or penalties for doctors and midwives who act on conscientious objection.

Research

I did some research and what I found in the proposed bill, in Section 5 dealing with penalties, stated: "Where any midwife or medical practitioner or other health-service provider who objects to termination of pregnancy on the grounds of conscience, refuses or deliberately fails to inform any woman seeking an abortion of a practitioner who provides the service, under sections 4 and 15 he/she shall be liable on summary conviction, to a fine of up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and/or imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months."

Simply put, the right to conscientious objection is recognised. Any doctor or midwife may refuse to provide the service for religious or other reasons. However, the proposed bill acknowledges that the patient is at the centre of the debate and, therefore, the midwife or medical practitioner is obliged to refer the patient to another doctor who may provide the service.

Public health ethics

The penalty is to midwives and medical practitioners who refuse to provide the woman with information or referrals. This request is normal in the public health ethics, not just for reproductive health. Any doctor who refuses a patient is supposed to give alternative information and refer that patient to another doctor.

Dr Doreen Brady West is creating unnecessary panic simply because she does not respect the fact that some women have a mind of their own and make their own choices based on their own life circumstances.

I am, etc.,

REBEKAH LAWRENCE

navelstring@gmail.com