ROMAN Catholic Archbishop of Kingston Lawrence Burke has slammed attempts to legalise abortion in Jamaica, even as government winds down consultations ahead of drafting legislation, calling instead for abortionists to be ferreted out and prosecuted.

Current laws threaten imprisonment for both patient and the person performing the abortion.

But an interim report on a more liberal abortion policy is being circulated for comments, said Health Minister John Junor, ahead of a bill to Parliament.

The Medical Association of Jamaica (MAJ), the island’s grouping of doctors and surgeons, supports the clarification and review of the regulations, claiming in its position paper that it would reduce unwanted pregnancies as well as the island’s maternal mortality rate.

Abortions are illegal in Jamaica and can only be done under circumstances where the pregnancy threatens the health of the mother.

But it is an open secret that other types are done by doctors as well as hacks with inadequate facilities, and it is those that Burke wants targeted, saying the authorities know who are performing illegal operations and should go after them.

“I don’t see any need to change the law…” said Burke in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

“Prosecute the persons who do illegal abortions and shut them down. If a person wants an illegal abortion, it is public knowledge where they are done,” said the Archbishop, “so prosecute those people and that will decrease the maternal mortality rate.”

The Roman Catholic Church, which rejects the use of contraception for birth control, is staunchly pro-life, and holds, as does the Christian right, that life begins at conception.

Pro-lifers contend that to abort is to take a human life.

But faced with a reality of 16 per cent mortality deaths being adolescents who had botched abortions, Junor, late last year, announced that legislation was under review by a committee, headed by Dr Wynante Patterson, to, among other things, reduce the number of back room abortions, which represented a third of the maternal deaths in 2004.

The nominal figures were not immediately available, but the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s annual review of the country’s social and economic status suggested that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) was likely to round out at about 95 per 100,000 live births in 2004, and that there were some 46,500 live births in that year.

Prior to then, the MMR had held for some 20 years at about 106 per 100,000 births.

Archbishop Burke says that while a revision of the abortion law may reduce maternal mortality, it still does not address the issue of the death of the unborn foetus.

“We don’t see it as a step forward. It is a step backward. My question is who is going to protect the lives of the people (babies) who can’t protect themselves,” said Burke.

“The law practically allows abortion on demand, whether it threatens the mental health of the mother. It is not defined.”

The church and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have to step up their assistance programmes for mothers with financial and other constraints, said Burke, so that they can consider options other than abortions.

“We have to step up to the plate to provide alternatives … such as adoption or even taking care of them until they get back on their feet,” he said.

“We have the Mustard Seed programme where pregnant women can carry their child to term while they learn skills. We need a lot more of those programmes.”

The Catholic Church submitted its position to the abortion review committee in November, on request, but Burke says he is yet to get a response to his request to discuss the issue further with the committee.

The umbrella Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC), meantime, is yet to formulate its position on abortion, according to Rev Ernle Gordon.

“A few years ago we met to discuss it, but we don’t really have a theological view,” said Gordon.

“We have looked at issues such as whose right is it to (decide) on an abortion – the doctor or the mother; what about a situation such as rape or if the mother has a disease that is going to affect the child; should there be no abortions at all or should it be under special circumstances. This is still being discussed.”

There are no recent figures on abortions, but a 2002 reproductive health survey indicated that of 102 women who had abortions, the majority 30 per cent of them did so because they could not afford to care for the child; another 23 per cent cited danger to the mother.

Diplomatically, the MAJ, under president Alverston Bailey, says in its paper that it supports “the activities which prevent unwanted pregnancies” and fully respected the “diverse moral pluralism of the abortion debate”.

But its members are pro-legalisation of abortion, and have proposed that:

. all doctors performing the procedure be certified;

. abortions should only be considered after informed consent, leaving the decision to the patient;

. informed consent can only come from persons 18 and over, and the mentally-balanced; otherwise parental consent would be required; and

. pregnancy terminations happen ‘as early as possible’ before viability, technically defined as the foetus’ ability to survive outside the mother’s womb.

The issue of viability is subject to the physician’s clinical judgment, but adds that the “threshold should not exceed 20 weeks gestation”.

The MAJ says under common law, doctors can terminate a pregnancy with the consent of the patient if there is significant foetal abnormality, conditions which threaten maternal welfare or health or for a pregnancy as result of rape or incest.

But, statutes dating back more than 150 years, stipulate that not only the patient, but also the person carrying out the abortion, and those who facilitate the procedure, are liable for imprisonment.

“The legal advice to the MAJ purports that the law takes priority over common law when there is any query regarding common law and written law. This needs further certification,” said the association.

davidsont@jamaicaobserver.com