MEMBERS of Sistren Theatre Collective yesterday gave members of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament deliberating a proposal to legalise abortion a ‘slice of reality’ in a drama presentation advocating a ‘safe space’ for women seeking to terminate their pregnancy.

The mantra of the seven-member female cast, aided by a male drummer, was the need for a “safe space where a woman can go to get counselling and make decisions about safe abortions”.

In the ‘riveting’ 10-minute presentation, the women, who were from the inner-city communities of Hannah Town and Fletcher’s Land in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, demonstrated the negatives of contraceptives, the dilemma of a struggling mother faced with one more mouth to feed in an already large family and the woman made pregnant against her will.

“What we want is for the Government to provide a safe space where women can go to make their decisions before and after counselling; meck wi choose fi wisself,” they chanted.

The women, who said they had no intention of using abortion as a family planning method, said the shame of hiding away to have abortions was further compounded by unsafe and unhealthy practices.

Director of Sistren, Lana Finnikin, said the group did not dream up the material it had presented but rather spoke for a select group.

“There are various situations why we are calling for safe space for women to be able to make that decision for themselves. It’s a woman’s right to make that decision and especially the grassroots women from within the inner-city they are saying it is their decision, it is their body and they have the right to decide for themselves. The characters you see on stage are real; they are from the communities we are working in,” Finnikin said.

Committee chairman, Ruddy Spencer, the health minister, and member Senator Dwight Nelson said the presentation was a far cry from the ‘abuse’ handed out to committee members weekly.

“It was a meaningful departure from the norm. We have been abused outside of the Parliament and inside but it comes with the work and we understand; but this was really, really refreshing and it will go a far way in helping us to make our decision,” Spencer said.

“It is a refreshing departure from sitting here and being abused and having insults hurled at us. I want to thank the group for making the committee’s day,” Nelson said, noting that he had entered the chamber with ‘trepidation’ based on the reported experiences of other members of the committee with other presenters.

According to colleague committee member St Aubyn Bartlett the presentation was “the voice of the people”.

Sistren Theatre Collective, an independent women’s organisation, established in 1977 has been working in some of Kingston’s most violent communities, using theatre, dance, photography, and music to highlight social issues and foster inter-communal dialogue and reform.

The committee which has been hearing submissions since July of last year on the report of the Abortion Policy Review Advisory Group set up by former health minister John Junor in 2005, amidst concerns that abortion was the third leading cause of death among adolescents and that unsafe abortions constituted the eighth leading cause of maternal deaths in Jamaica.

The group, which was asked to advise on the development of a comprehensive national policy on abortion with special emphasis on safe abortions, has recommended that Sections 72 and 73 of the Offences Against the Person Act be repealed and replaced with a Termination of Pregnancy Act.

Currently under the Offences Against the Person Act, persons identified as having made the slightest contribution to abortion are liable to life in prison.

Since July a number of submissions have been made to the committee, the majority from pro-life groups who have warned the Government of the ills of legalising abortion or giving way to an abortion on demand policy.