At least one minister of religion is of the view that members of the Christian community should exercise a sense of humility, rather than arrogance regarding the issue of whether to legalise abortion in Jamaica.
At the same time, Rector at Christ Church in Vineyard Town, Reverend Father Sean Major-Campbell, has also posited that abortion is not an issue for the church, but rather the state. When it comes to human rights issues like safe access to abortions, it is a matter that the state needs to address, he contended.
He was one of the panellists at a recent webinar hosted by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) as it presented its findings in a European Union-funded report titled: ‘Coming to Terms: The Social Costs of Unequal Access to Safe Abortions’.
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The ongoing debate over whether to legalise abortion in Jamaica has escalated with the controversial recommendation from the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) that minors be allowed to access an abortion on their own without the consent of a parent.
The controversial position was put forward by CAPRI in its European Union-funded report titled: Coming to Terms: The Social Costs of Unequal Access to Safe Abortions, the findings of which were presented Thursday during a webinar. The requirement of parental consent or notification may delay young women’s abortion care leading to more risky and costlier late-term abortion procedures, or even cause the young women to resort to illegal or self-induced abortions in a fear of parental reactions, CAPRI stated in the report.