There has been the publication of a recent poll on the views that the Jamaican people have on abortion.  I will not quote the specific poll results.  However, it is clear that for the most part, abortion is not a choice that most Jamaicans wish to see taken.  The so-called abortion debate has been going on for a long time but it seems that it is only recently that it has taken such a huge public profile.

It had been promised that there would be public consultations on the matter to give Jamaicans a clearer understanding of the matter.  However, so far very few have been held and whilst we see several Town Hall meetings taking place in Jamaica we see none of those meetings focussing on abortion.

This is a pity because all Jamaicans whether for or against abortion ought to be given a wider opportunity to state their case.  After all, a pillar of democracy as I learnt about it, is to allow the different sides to air their opinions.  Of course, ultimately one side will win.  My hope is that in all of this we will remember that the one side that cannot air a view is the unborn child in the womb.  Hopefully some of them will one day be able to say (if they come to so agree) why they disagree with abortion.  Yes, like most Jamaicans I support the right of the unborn to grow and develop within their mothers and indeed to be born.

Some human experiences

Interestingly, as this issue continues to be ventilated, I find myself hearing more and more cases of persons who abortion has “touched” in some way.  I recently had a meeting with a very good executive from a reputable company in Jamaica who told me that his father was the product of rape.  I looked at him in shock and amazement.  I can only imagine the trauma of rape.  However, had his father been aborted that entire lineage would have been cut off.

I know a clergyman whose mother was told to abort him for medical reasons.  His mother nevertheless carried the pregnancy to term and now that man is in charge of an entire congregation of persons.  A friend of mine related to me the trauma of his ex-girlfriend having had an abortion against his will.  Even though he has since fathered another child, he is still traumatised by the abortion that his ex-girlfriend had.  Some men feel it too when their women have abortions.  It is just that the pain that men feel is usually not spoken about.

Grounding the right to choose

Some women advocate that abortion is really just a woman’s right and regrettably, in my view, the court’s in some jurisdictions have adopted this position.  However, I want to look beneath the surface on this issue.  I agree with the call of women to be treated with respect, dignity and to enjoy the freedoms for which they have fought.  However, I do believe that the push for interpreting reproductive health rights in a way that can permit the destruction of the unborn is a digression from the true freedom for women.

It is true that not all women will be mothers, but that does not mean that a woman should decide whether the separate life that is developing within her body should live or die.  That is what the right to abortion would amount to.  Some persons have used language or the choice of words to, in my view, attempt to alter the status of the unborn.

The referral to the baby as a mere foetus or a blob of tissue is to me extremely disconcerting and even de-humanizing.  To me it is similar to how our African ancestors were referred during slavery as “savages”.  We must remember too that there are adults today who are mentally challenged and those who for medical reasons are in a comatose state or brain dead.  Must we terminate their lives as well, if it is no longer convenient, desirable or too expensive to have them around?  Who gets to decide that?

Women defending the unborn

Only about one per cent of abortions take place due to hard reasons such as rape or incest.  The vast majority are done by women who engage in sexual relations that have caused a life to be formed and for one reason or another, they decide it is inconvenient or inexpedient to carry the child to term.  Some men have also pushed their women to have abortions when having the child may not be desirable for them.

According to Dr. Li-ann Thio in her new work “Mind The Gap”, Genesis Books, 2009 at page 219, “Abortion becomes a useful method for dealing with the consequences of unbridled sexual encounter; the killing of an innocent is deemed part of the right of privacy, a right of expediency.”

Dr. Thio is a law professor at the National University of Singapore who will be in Jamaica for a series of events in late October.  Abortion is one area she has considered and I find it interesting that she as a woman espouses such strong views in defence of the unborn.

I was similarly interested to learn that the late Eunice Kennedy-Shriver being a US Democrat was strongly pro-life.  Some persons may not agree with the views of those such as Professor Thio or the late Eunice Kennedy-Shriver.  However, one cannot ignore the wealth of intellectual discourse on this very potent topic.
Until we meet in two weeks time.

Stokeley Marshall is an attorney-at-law who may be reached at stokeleymarshall@gmail.com