Advocates can’t be insensitive; nor the Church silent
Dear Editor,
The two latest public contributions to the ongoing debate on this very controversial issue of abortion raise questions that seek clarity. I refer to the suggestions proffered by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) report and by the Anglican priest Fr Sean Major-campbell.
The CAPRI report suggests that, in order to fast-track abortion for minors (when made legal), parental approval would not be required. I wonder if such a suggestion was researched properly with the help of a clinical psychologist as to the far-reaching effects of rape.
For instance, in the Jamaica Observer of Sunday, February 8, 2021, a psychologist Dr Pearnel Bell made this observation: “We do have rape victims who come in and most times they end up with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and maybe a lifetime of trauma.”
For the life of me, I cannot imagine a teenager undergoing an abortion and perhaps being bedevilled by this “lifetime of trauma” without loving assistance from her parent(s) from whom she deliberately withheld information. CAPRI will have to revisit this aspect of its report.
Fr Major-campbell’s contribution to the ongoing debate was displayed in the Sunday Gleaner on February 7, 2o21, entitled ‘Churches must back off from abortion issue’. Among the quotes attributed to the goodly priest is this: “When it comes to human rights issues like access to abortion, it is a matter that the State needs to address.” The rest of that article seems to suggest that the churches, with all their quarrels, need not hone in on the debate.
This is a worrying position to take. For we can all recall how, historically, the Christian churches were “out to lunch” during the horrific period of slavery and other discriminatory practices embraced by the State. The churches were also silent when Adolf Hitler massacred Jews in order to keep the Arian race pure. Human rights issues are moral issues about which the Church has a duty to comment, whether or not the State listens.
As the abortion debate continues we must be consistent in our contributions that will hopefully bring light, rather than heat and publicity. The Christian Church, however, must not further its argument as if we are operating within a theocracy. On the other hand, the State would be imprudent in making far-reaching decisions that impact seriously the lives of people, many of whom comprise the Church.
In other words, those who readily seek assistance from the Church, for example for education, etc, cannot act as if the Church is merely a museum of dusty morals incapable of influencing the well-being and common good of our citizens — the majority of whom were nurtured on Christian values, even though there might be an apparent unravelling of said moral values due to certain expediencies.
Basic to this discussion on abortion is the inviolability of life without which anything goes. We must learn from history the mistakes made about the expendability of certain lives, either because of our furthering the cause of the economy or the sheer extermination of others who do not fit into our limited perspective of life in its totality.