Eulalee Thompson
To the best of my knowledge, Jamaica's position on abortion dates back to the 1861 British Act which made abortion illegal but was modified by a 1939 ruling of a judge which allowed for abortion to preserve the life of the mother.
Also, to the best of my knowledge, the British have since liberalised their abortion laws with the introduction in 1967 of an abortion law; Jamaica, on the other hand, is still lagging behind in this area of legal reform.
Neighbouring CARICOM states, Barbados and Guyana, have already diverted from the use of the Offences Against the People's Act as the law governing abortions. The Barbadian law, 'The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act' (1983), often cited by local medical practitioners as being quite progressive and as setting a precedent in the region, was first introduced to me in 1993 by Dr. Margaret Green, then president of the Medical Association of Jamaica (so you can see how long I have been following this topic).
That Act permits a doctor on 'his sole judgment' to carry out abortion procedures in pregnancies less than 12 weeks old. It also allows the agreement of two doctors for pregnancies 12 to 20 weeks and the agreement of three doctors for a pregnancy more than 20 weeks old. It also legalises abortions carried out on the grounds that the pregnancies concerned resulted from rape or incest.
That act governing abortion still stands, I suppose, because, like hanging and casino gambling, the lobbying groups are well-formed and articulate but also because the Church lobby is so vocal and opposed to any change in a particular direction. Political leadership is apparently weak-kneed and impotent when it comes to making decisions which will make it unpopular, either way the axe falls. The crux of the argument of those opposed to abortion appears to centre around the foetus as a life. When does life really begins?
"I don't know what rights the foetus has," said Dr. Wynante Patterson, as she spoke to me last Friday afternoon. "Is the foetus a legal person and a citizen? But while this debate is going on, we need to protect our women."
Repeal the law
Dr. Patterson is chair of a 17-member Abortion Policy Review Advisory Group set up in September 2005 to review Jamaica's abortion position and make recommendations. News that the advisory group is recommending the repeal of current 'abortion legislation' and the prescription of clear guidelines for legal terminations of pregnancies has triggered another round of debate on abortion here.
Dr. Patterson said that the safety of women was at the centre of the advisory group's thought; it believes that women should have access to safe abortions. While not necessarily advocating abortions on demand, Dr. Patterson said that they are recommending the repeal of the current law because it is not being enforced. She said further that since 1861, nobody has been prosecuted under the law because a report has never come to the courts.
The problems with the current law, Dr. Patterson said, include the fact that it speaks about what is unlawful and penalties but doesn't say what is lawful. The advisory group is recommending law that states what is lawful and unlawful.
The advisory group would like its recommendations to form the basis for further public consultations from which a review document can be compiled. Let's hope that this is not just another nine-day wonder which will go to sleep quietly and then awaken another day with a new committee because I rang up Dr. Margaret Green over the weekend and she reminded me that during her MAJ presidency there was quite a huge focus on this issue of abortion.
Between November 21 and 25, 1994, for example, right here in Kingston, the MAJ had hosted a large UNFPA-sponsored consultation on this very topic of abortion with wide participation from local and foreign government and non-governmental agencies. Quite a comprehensive document was produced from that meeting which can inform policy.
There was also another major consultation held in conjunction with the Bar Association of Jamaica on June 5, 1994, at the University of the West Indies which I remember quite vividly, since I had spent most of my Sunday at that assignment but ended up with a front-page story. In 2005, during The Gleaner's special year in health, this newspaper also hosted a major Editors' Forum with most of the main voices on the issue present and there was another upsurge in public interest arising from the articles which were subsequently published. The point is that there is no shortage of research, information and meetings on the matter. It's decision time now!
eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com.
Offences against the person
Abortions are still illegal in Jamaica under the "Offences Against the Person Act. According to section 72:
"Every woman being with child who, with the intent to procure her own miscarriage, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or unlawfully uses any instrument, or other means whatsoever, with the like intent; and whosoever with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether she be or not be with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes to be taken by her any poison or other noxious thing, or unlawfully uses any instrument or other means whatsoever, with the like intent, is guilty of a felony."
Is the foetus a person?
Exploring the issue of abortion
(Excerpt of an article published in 'Health' on Wednesday, September 26, 2001.)
Dr. Derrick Aarons, bioethicist, says that personhood begins when form has taken place, when the foetus has a soul and brain function to feel pain.
"The egg and the sperm don't have a soul to detect its environment," he said.
Some say that human personhood is ascribed at conception, others say that it is gained later in the development of the egg and the sperm.
"The essential philosophical questions are, firstly, when does a baby become viable, in terms of being able to survive outside of the mother's uterus and, secondly, does the baby have a soul?" said Dr. Errol Daley, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica.
"I don't think that anybody has the answers to these questions. Everybody is right. We are not God."
He explained that under 20 weeks, the survival of the foetus outside of mother's womb is virtually zero and importantly, as the weeks progress, the chance for survival outside of the womb is more likely.
"It is a question of ethics. My own feeling is that, up to 20 weeks, a woman has the right to decide what to do with her own body but she probably will need counselling. In the United States, some doctors go up to 30 weeks but I think that the weight of the ethical issues are too great there," Dr. Daley said.
eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com.
