Dear Editor,

The DAWN Caribbean Working Group on Women’s Reproductive Health and Rights is somewhat disappointed with the progress to date of the Joint Select Committee Reviewing the Abortion Policy Review Group (APRG) report.

Since its formation almost two years ago, this committee has been deliberating the issue. Fifty-three submissions have been received from the public, one full-scale report from the APRG has been circulated for members to read and consider, and four public fora have been conducted.

The committee is more than armed with sufficient evidence about the public health issues, the legal implications and the emotional concerns at stake. We concur with the committee chair, Minister Spencer, that this issue needs to be resolved and cannot be bulldozed.

DAWN Caribbean therefore urges the committee to use this opportunity to effectively enhance governance and social justice. The recommendations, the comprehensive report and the work undertaken by the APRG offer solid direction and give the committee five responsibilities. These are:

1. The responsibility of resolution: This issue has been unresolved since the 1970s. Changes to the legislation would represent an overdue resolution on the subject. The reasons for the initial 1975 exploration of the issue remain, ie the conditions of unsafe abortion and the negative impact on the health of women. Additionally, further evidence has presented itself which informed the process that came to the fore in 2004.

2. The responsibility of being practical: The APRG report highlights that the present law that governs abortion is unenforceable. Studies have demonstrated that a large percentage of women who opt for abortions already have children. We need to consider the potential displacement of families that could occur if women who seek abortions are imprisoned in the instance of absentee fathers.

3. The responsibility of speaking truth to power: The current law does not actually prevent abortions. Due to Jamaica’s socioeconomic circumstances, electing to have an abortion is a very individual and specific experience, as such, it requires a multifaceted response. Civil society consultations conducted by DAWN Caribbean found that the current law discriminates against poor and working-class women who cannot access the resources to afford a safe abortion.

4. The responsibility of health regulation: The ambiguity of the law creates a situation whereby abortion services which do exist are unmonitored and unregulated; a lack of standards endangers the patient. The recommendations in the APRG report evince this and point to various studies by the World Health Organisation that may assist in establishing a regulatory framework.

5. The responsibility of facilitation and the value of life: The lives of women are at risk and these lives are worth saving, especially their morbidity. The proposed recommendations by the APRG are worthy of critical examination of the ‘how’, not just at the legislative level, but at the level of establishing a robust regulatory framework that allows for: emotional support and moral guidance; medical safety and contraceptive knowledge thereby facilitating behaviour change.

Isolating the issue as controversial is not governance or leadership. Clear governance and solid leadership are required to address abortion, inclusive of its public health implications.

This change that is required must also be seen from the bigger picture in which it is part — commitments made to national policies and plans such as the National Youth Policy, the National Strategic Plan on Safe Motherhood; the National Gender Policy, the National Policy on Population and Development, and the Vision 2030 Plan, which overall form a very cohesive framework for access to safe health-care services to Jamaican citizens. Doing nothing changes nothing.

DAWN Caribbean hopes that this issue of abortion will finally receive the resolution it deserves and urges the Joint Select Committee to deliberate its decisions with courage and compassion.

DAWN Caribbean Working Group on Women’s Reproductive Health & Rights

dawncaribbean@gmail.com