Dear Editor,

Only two hours apart, the Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna has contradicted herself and rendered her empathy empty, hollow and superficial. She deplored the killing of the three teenage boys in Clarendon, stating that the act shows that the perpetrators “[had] no feelings, compassion or love”. Laws and regulations alone cannot help to address violence against children, she said.

Yet, only two hours before, it was published that she vociferously calls for changing our anti-abortion laws. As if speaking from a feminist perspective, she states that the anti-abortion laws perpetuate poverty among women and children.

There is a simple procedure of deduction called root-cause analysis, where a problem is dissected to its base in order to determine the source of the problem. Why do we feel this process cannot be applied to matters affecting our nation? If these women did not get pregnant, there would be no need for abortions. If these women were given better opportunities, they would be given a chance to alleviate their poverty.

When will the honourable minister focus on challenging the culture of poverty and violence in our country, especially the insurgence of violence against our youth, instead of calling for more ruthless killing of our children? She calls for discussions outside the scope of the Bible. Does the honourable minister know that from the point the sperm infuses an egg DNA is imprinted, which determines the child’s hereditary traits such as eye colour, hair colour, even the child’s personality? At this stage, the cell is known as a zygote and having been infused with human DNA is therefore human. This shows even at the earliest stage there is life and intelligent design at work which shows if the process is uninterrupted this organism will grow and develop into a walking, talking, thinking contributor to society.

Please, Minister, your heart is in the right place to help and heal our nation. Apply that standard right across the board to all our nation’s children. We are counting on you.

Marie V

lovemarchmovement@gmail.com

CAP:

Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna