THE EDITOR, Sir:

The anti-abortionists are in a militant mood. They are about to declare war on the Government. My first exposure to these groups was in the United States. Declaring that they were Christians and claiming to use the Bible and science as their guide, they gave a number of reasons why the premature termination of a foetus is really murdering a human being. They displayed horrible images of dismembered foetuses and told stories of life in the womb, many of which were refuted as flawed or fraudulent by respected medical sources. But they did not stop there. In God's name, they bombed clinics and murdered doctors and nurses, thereby doing exactly what their movement claimed to be preventing.

Here in Jamaica, these well-educated, well-heeled lawyers and doctors for Jesus were on TV showing images of 'foetuses' - one of which seemed to be a hearty one-year-old and declaring that the foetus is 'fully formed' at 12 weeks old 'with fingernails'. As flawed as these claims are, they gain a lot of traction particularly among the uneducated and form the basis for major mental health issues for those who have terminated pregnancies, plunging them into depression and nightmares which left untreated results in self-destructive behaviour, including suicide.

First-hand view

For the past 35 years, I have worked in a variety of capacities which not only give me a first-hand view of the circumstances leading up to unwanted pregnancies, but the consequences of being forced to live with such a disastrous mistake.

One would have to see these conditions first-hand to understand the daily torture that an unwanted child experiences. From an early age, that child understands that it is an inconvenience. Seventeen-year-olds have told me that they have never received a hug or any expression of affection. This is the perfect spawning ground for the sociopaths who are terrorising our society. The violence continues because the police, lawmakers and the church continues to labour under the mistaken impression that much of the violence is because of problems between gangs and other groups. It is because of the large number of sociopaths among us whose only source of pleasure and release is to inflict pain on others. Every single one with which I have been associated was the product of an unwanted pregnancy.

Some of the pregnant women make a carefully considered decision. They reason, quite correctly, that they are psychologically unprepared for a child, they have nothing materially or emotionally to offer and it is in the interest of all concerned to terminate. Since it is illegal and expensive, they have to find a cheaper source. There are many available. The problem is that their skills slant more to butchery than the careful, skilful procedure that is required.

Untold story

Others merely put together a cocktail of the hardest possible chemicals, assume that they have abortifacient capabilities and go into business. Any doctor who chooses to be truthful will tell you of the many deaths that result from these procedures in Jamaica each year. The untold story is the thousands of victims who are condemned to years or a lifetime of medical problems and the psychological problems that are added after these righteous, wealthy anti-abortionists finish messing with their brains.

What they are vague about is the options for the less fortunate who find themselves between a rock and a hard place. It usually runs along the lines of 'something will work out'. But does it really? We have this army of poor, twisted minds burdening the country's social and economic resources to prove that it does not work out.

Any day the Government enacts laws enforcing pro-life advocates to terminate their pregnancies, I will help them to block roads, fling stone and march 'from Morant Point to Negril point' with them, but I cannot support any person or group in any attempt to force the government to impose privately held views on the entire population.

I am, etc.,

GLENN TUCKER

glenntucker8@hotmail.com

Stony Hill, Kingston 9