The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL and RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe expects police to investigate not only the alleged statutory rape of an 11-year-old girl impregnated by her mother’s boyfriend, but also the abortion the girl received, which he said was illegal.

Discussing recent reports of sexual assaults involving children yesterday, Mr Munroe said a mother recently procured abortion pills for her daughter after the woman’s boyfriend allegedly impregnated the child.

Outraged social media users condemned the boyfriend’s actions, as did Mr Munroe when The Tribune contacted him with additional questions. However, he also told this newspaper authorities should address the abortion the girl received at her mother’s direction.

“I don’t direct the police what to do,” he said, “but they should be investigating the entire transaction.”

“The law currently permits the termination of a pregnancy based only on the health and safety of a mother.”

The episode is a reminder of the vulnerability of children in a country with rising sexual assault reports — but it is also a reminder that abortion is illegal in The Bahamas, even in cases of rape.

Since the US Supreme Court overturned a landmark abortion law last year, the matter has become one of that country’s most politically salient issues.

The US press has occasionally reported on the extreme measures some people, including underage rape victims in conservative states, have taken to get an abortion with the permission of their parents.

“All social change should only come after serious consultation,” Mr Munroe said, adding the Progressive Liberal Party did not commit to changing abortion laws in its pre-election manifesto.

Rape victims who report the attack and seek medical help can legally receive medication that prevents pregnancy, but this only helps those who seek immediate attention.

In 2020, Dr Leon Dupuch, the past head of Princess Margaret Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, expressed alarm at the number of women and girls reporting to the hospital after an attempted abortion went wrong. He said many of the cases were tied to unsupervised use of pills.

Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas, said the rollback of abortion laws in the US affects Bahamians who could otherwise afford to access sexual and reproductive healthcare in the US.

She said The Bahamas should comply with CEDAW’s recommendation to decriminalise abortion in all cases.

“We, as a country,” she said, “cannot afford for abortion to remain inaccessible to women. Abortion is healthcare, and we must be able to access it in all circumstances, regardless of others’ opinions. Other countries in the region have progressed, and advocates in some countries, like Jamaica, are working in their communities and with politicians to decriminalize abortion. Guyana led the way, for decades, with abortion available without restriction. Barbados, similarly, has made abortion available for physical health, mental health and socio-economic reasons.”

“In The Bahamas, gender-based violence is a public health crisis, with rape and incest –– reported and unreported –– happening in large numbers, sometimes resulting in pregnancy. Survivors are not only women, but children, and it is ridiculous and inhumane to expect women or children to suffer through unwanted pregnancies and giving birth when it is medically possible to safely terminate pregnancy.”

“Abortion must be made accessible on demand for any other reason. Saving the life and preserving the health of a woman cannot be the only reasons that abortion is decriminalized.”