KINGSTON, Jamaica — Of the 203 respondents to a recent OBSERVER ONLINE poll, 51 per cent said no to the Jamaican Government legalising abortion.

Government Member of Parliament for West Rural St Andrew, Juliet Cuthbert Flynn, on October 9, opened a debate in the House of Representatives on her motion seeking to have abortion made legal in the island.

Cuthbert, a first time MP and a former athlete who won silver medals in both the 100 and 200 metres at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, had her second child at age 52 after becoming a Parliament in February 2016.

It is uncertain whether Cuthbert Flynn will be able to get enough support from a majority of the 62 MPs in the House of Representatives, with the likelihood of some opposition from a powerful conservative church community which has consistently opposed abortion. However, Cuthbert Flynn made a case for change in opening the debate.

Her motion tabled in the House of Representatives in June reads in part:

“Be it resolved that this Honourable House consider the recommendations of the Abortion Policy Group, which was established to provide guidance to allow women the right to choose;

“Be it further resolved that this Honourable House take steps to repeal sections 72 and 73 of the Offences Against the Persons Act, and substitute therewith a civil law titled “Termination of Pregnancy Act”, as recommended by the Abortion Policy Review Group in 2007”.