Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Shirley Richards (right), of Lawyers Christian Fellowship, Rev. Peter Garth, of the Jamaica Association of Evangelicals, and Dr. Alveda King, of Priests for Life, at the Terra Nova Hotel in St. Andrew, yesterday. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

A PASSIONATE appeal to keep abortion illegal in Jamaica came yesterday from Christian leaders, at Terra Nova Hotel, in St. Andrew. Each warned that making the operation legal would add to a deterioration of values.

The local speakers included pastors, doctors and a lawyer who have lobbied for several years to prosecute persons who perform abortions. Also present were evangelists from overseas, three of whom spoke of the anguish that follows an abortion.

Reverend Peter Garth of the Jamaica Association of Evangelicals said church leaders would thwart any move government made to legalise abortion.

Call for support

He called on the Church to play a more active role in caring for those affected by abortions.

"The Church must seek ways to support and nurture women who decide to carry an unwanted pregnancy to full term," he said. "The Church must (also) seek ways to support all children who result from unwanted pregnancies."

Although abortion is illegal in Jamaica, the Ministry of Health reports that over 22,000 abortions are performed here annually. Many of the operations, the ministry reported, were done by unskilled persons.

Last March, then Health Minister, John Junor, said the ministry was looking into ways that would allow abortions once the mother's life was endangered. He said abortions would also be considered if the mother was the victim of rape, incest or carnal abuse.

Last resort

There was an agreement among the Church leaders that termination of pregnancy should be allowed only as a last resort. Some, including Dr. Alveda King and Yvette Murray, gave powerful personal experiences.

"Every human being should be treated with dignity, and that means from the womb," said Dr. King, head of the Atlanta-based Priests For Life.

The niece of Civil Rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said she went through years of depression after a doctor aborted her second child.

Barbadian-born Murray, who works with the Pregnancy Care Centre in San Antonio, Texas, said she is unable to bear children because of an abortion in her native country several years ago.

"Please, don't follow Barbados and take that path of destruction. It will destroy your country," she said.

Barbados and Guyana are the only Caribbean countries where abortion is legal.