KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN) has commended the Minister of Youth, Lisa Hanna, for addressing the issue of reproductive health and rights of women and has called for the legalisation of abortion. 

According to Jason Madden, a youth advocate with the organisation, “the illegality of abortion has not prevented about 22,000 women and girls between 15 and 44 years to procure an abortion every year in Jamaica.” 

“Many women and girls are endangering themselves because of the inaccessibility and un-affordability of abortions in Jamaica. We believe the time has come for us to protect and promote the reproductive rights of women and girls,” Madden argued. “Far too many are in desperate need and we eagerly anticipate the leadership of Minister Hanna on this important issue.”

JYAN urged Hanna to support the recommendations of the Abortion Policy Review Committee which was set up in 2005. “We support the Committee’s very clear guidance on the conditions under which abortion should be lawful and encourage the Minister to take steps to protect and promote the rights of our women and girls, especially those who are most vulnerable,” Madden insisted.

The JYAN representative said the organisation’s research revealed that between March 1 and August 31, 2005, there were over 600 patients at Ward 5, which deals exclusively with abortions at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston. 

“Not surprisingly, all patients were from inner-city communities, single, and a third were teenagers,” Madden said adding that about 40 per cent had a previous termination of pregnancy and 30 per cent had two or more previous abortions. “Evidently, abortion services are desperately needed by some of our most vulnerable women and girls and it is our responsibility as a country to make abortions legal, safe, affordable and accessible,” Madden charged.

Hanna, in her presentation in the Sectoral debate in Parliament Tuesday argued that attention needed to be focussed on the level of unwanted children in the society.

“Mr Speaker abortion is still illegal in this country and a woman’s right to choose whether or not to keep her pregnancy is in effect exercised only by those who can afford a private doctor. The law is old but we have been debating whether we are to change it for the past 38 years. Therefore we must now drill down and turn our attention to changing the mindset of persons who are still having children without the thought of how they will take care of them,” the minister said.