The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said he believes abortion is a personal choice.

He said changing the law so someone who is raped can get an abortion is a “medical matter” he “would have to consider”.

Abortion in The Bahamas is currently illegal in all cases except to save a mother’s life, although underground activity exists.

National Security Minister Wayne Munroe revealed last week that a woman gave abortion pills to her 11-year-old daughter after the girl’s stepfather allegedly raped her. The mother was charged with various offences this week, including causing harm for the purpose of committing an abortion.

 To some women’s rights advocates, the failure of the 11-year-old girl to legally get an abortion shows the law is draconian.

 When The Tribune described the case to the prime minister and asked if the government would consider amending the law, Mr Davis said: “That will be a medical matter for me to consider. For me, where the issue of abortion is a highly emotive one. It’s a personal choice, and we leave that to the persons who get impregnated, and I don’t want to impose my views on a personal choice. But suffice it to say, I will support a personal choice of anyone in respect of those matters.”

 Mr Munroe noted last week that the Progressive Liberal Party did not commit to amending abortion laws in its pre-election manifesto.

 “All social change should only come after serious consultation,” he said.

 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.

 Last week, Alicia Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas, said The Bahamas should comply with CEDAW’s recommendation to decriminalise abortion in all cases.

 “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,” she said. “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.”

 However, two prominent pastors, Mario Moxey of Bahamas Harvest Church and Reverend Dr Phillip McPhee, the recently appointed leader of the Bahamas Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention (BBMEC), said they would oppose amending abortion legislation.

 “We believe in the sanctity of life, and it’s important that we protect the life even in situations where there is rape,” Mr Moxey said.