The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRESS secretary Clint Watson says addressing legislation on abortion is currently not a priority for the Davis administration, adding that the government does not make “impulsive decisions” based on what other countries are doing.

Discussions surrounding the issue of abortion were reignited last week after a recent United States Supreme Court decision overturned the Roe vs Wade ruling that granted abortion rights across the country. It means the constitutional right to abortion, upheld for nearly a half century, no longer exists.

 It will now be up to individual US states to decide whether the procedure will be legal for their residents.

 However, here in The Bahamas, abortion remains illegal.

 During yesterday’s press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Watson was asked to state the government’s position on abortion in view of the recent ruling.

 He replied: “We have not made public any position at all since it’s happened.

 “It’s just happened in the United States of America. We don’t make impulsive decisions in The Bahamas’ government based on what the US has done.

 “Now, granted, it will cause for more awakening or to see whether there will be any effects, but we’re not going to all of a sudden pick up a mandate of dealing with abortion legislation because the United States did something. That’s not how you govern.”

 He said the government came into office with a “specific set of priorities,” which, he said, is their main focus.

 “We govern based on what your priorities are,” Mr Watson said. “The administration was selected based on a specific set of priorities. That’s the focus of the government. We divert in the event of an emergency or you divert in the event of there being a clarion call for some change, but not because something happened in another country you just drop your mandate and pick up something else.

 “That was never a part of the Davis administration’s mandate and to this point still, it does not become a part of it. Whether there be conversations, we’ll see what the public is asking for. We’ll see what those involved with the industry are saying about it and whether or not it has any bearing in The Bahamas, but right now it is not a discussion that Bahamians are having here widespread as far as their involvement in it so it’s not a priority for the administration.”

 He also said if decriminalising abortion “is something the Bahamian people want, they know how to lobby for change.”

“We govern on behalf of the Bahamian people,” he continued, “and that means you are sent to govern based on what they believe your interest line up with their interest. That has not been something expressed by the Bahamian people on a mass scale so it’s not on anybody’s agenda. It’s not on our agenda. It’s not on the opposition’s agenda so it’s probably not a conversation Bahamians want to entertain at this time. Will that always remain? I can’t say. New generations are coming up and their requirements are different.”