The local anti-abortion lobby is not sparing any effort to get the best minds to help them promote the agenda of life. In March the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston, a member of the Coalition for the Defence of Life brought to Jamaica, Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International (HLI).

HLI according to its web site seeks to "promote and defend the sanctity of life and family around the world according to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church through prayer, service and education. With 99 satellite offices in 80 countries, HLI is the largest international, pro-life, pro-family, pro-woman organisation in the world."

Support visit

Fr Euteneuer (pronounced EYE-TEN-OUR) told The Gleaner his visit was "to try and support those who are trying to defend Jamaica from abortion."

His visit was also to help the lobby group present its argument to the state and the wider population. According to Fr. Euteneuer, "there is no new argument on the pro-abortion side. People who have not confronted abortion, need to hear the answers from those who are well accustomed to fighting this battle."

Worldwide arguments

He said the arguments in circulation in Jamaica to allow for abortion on demand, have been expressed in countries where killing the unborn is now legal.

Abortion, he said, "is almost always promoted by an elite group of people in the culture. The people do not ask for it. The elite group works with a vast network of international abortion promoters and they take the resources and the strategies from the international realm, and they impose it on a country … They are well connected with networks of abortion promoters like International Planned Parenthood. They usually receive funding from these organisations to promote their agenda. They create commissions to promote legislation for abortion, or they create a legal precedence which they take to the high court to get decision that opens abortion to the society."

Nicaragua last year struck down a law which allowed abortion in certain circumstances and this was in part due to the assistance given by HLI, Fr Euteneuer said. He warned that in the campaign against abortion, "the only mistake in this business is apathy. If the people truly believe that abortion is the killing of an innocent life, then it is time to stand up and tell your government you do not want that."

Christina Milford was minding her own business when she said God communicated with her in a dream to do ministry to save the lives of the unborn.

Years later, her dream became reality in the shape of the Pregnancy Resource Centre of Jamaica (PRCJ).

Miss Milford explained that the centre is designed to assist young women make better choices. "Girls who are pregnant or who suspect they are pregnant we invite to come and talk to us," she said.

Expose to abortion effects

The counsellors at the centre will not tell a woman not to have an abortion but will expose the person to the possible effects, physical, emotional and psychological such an experience could produce.

Citing a Gleaner report of 2005, Miss Milford said that about 30 per cent of the nation's teenage girls have had an abortion. She expressed the view that many of these were ill prepared for the aftermath and are in need of non-judgemental counselling.

A core part of the counselling offered there concerns foetal development. "We ask them if they want to know about abortion procedures. We invite those who are not sure if they are pregnant to do a pregnancy test there. We ask them if they want to know of consequences of abortion. If a girl is not pregnant, she is told that her way of life can change.

"We are very Christian in our foundation and PRCJ introduces Jesus Christ as the change agent. We tell them about Jesus. In many instances the girls have a religious background and they know what salvation is about. Often times, the girls accept Christ right there in the office and I recommend them to a church."

Wonderfully made

Miss Milford said that before touching on the subject of abortion per se, the counsellor will normally share with the counselled that "they are fearfully and wonderfully made" as recorded in Psalm 139 verse 14.

A graduate of World Changers Bible Institute in Knoxville Tennessee, Miss Milford estimates that one in 10 women in Jamaica has had an abortion. She cited recent studies in the United States where there has been a growth in women being incarcerated, many of these female inmates have had at least one abortion. She believes there is a connection between the abortion and incarceration.

For her the issues in the abortion debate is not between being pro-life and pro-choice, but between being pro-life and pro-death.

She said, "Abortion is the deliberate killing of the unborn baby. It hurts women. A woman needs to have an abortion like how she needs to have her foot caught in the door."

Well-known deliverance minister, Dr Donald Stewart told The Gleaner that many times when he is counselling someone there is a manifestation of demonic spirits in that person. Sometimes, he said, the phenomenon that confronts him is the spirit of abortion.

"I have seen where abortion is one of those spirits. The spirit of abortion sometimes speaks out within in the context of counselling and so I have had to move from straight counselling to deliverance, and then come back to the counselling."

Demonising doorway

Abortion, he said, is a doorway for a person to become demonised.

He has had experiences where in doing deliverance the spirit identifies itself as the spirit of abortion.

"There are cases," he said, "where women do abortions because of rape and incest, carnal abuse, and so they live with the memories of the situation, the demonic spirits come in." Having them admit to what has been done to them, makes it easier to do deliverance.

"With abortion there are other things that normally come. You will usually have some other kinds of sexual spirits there. Or you will have some things that have to do with fear, anger, low self-esteem, bitterness, and other psychological negatives," he said.

"I have come across a very interesting case once with a good friend of mine who had an abortion. I had to counsel her. We never had any form of deliverance at that point. But several years later she got married and then discovered that she was having a problem having children. When she would get pregnant for her husband, the child would just, as it were, abort itself, and there were miscarriages.

"The doctors could not understand what was happening. Then she remembered the abortion, and she came to me, and said "I think there is a connection between miscarriages and the abortion years earlier." I had to pray with her and break the curse. Shortly after she was able to get pregnant and she has gone on to have two children. There have been other situations I know of that are very similar to hers.

IMSAH is a two-year-old organisation which seeks to promote dialogue concerning how churches relate to the society. It is led by persons of evangelical conviction.

A highlight of IMSAH is a regular discussion forum that is aired regularly on local cable, notably Mercy and Truth Ministries (MTM). Presently some of its material may be downloaded from its web site, www.imsah.org. But there are plans to stream live certain discussions and events.

IMSAH is also a lobby group to promote Christian values. In anticipation of the present national dialogue on abortion, IMSAH prepared a song, Womb Tomb, which has received airplay on local radio stations and its music video has been broadcast on local television and cable.

To complement the song, IMSAH, through one of its directors, John Sharpe, has prepared a number of cartoons to promote its pro-life agenda. John Sharpe, who is a graduate of the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts holds a diploma in fine arts. For his cartoons he signs under the name of Jaybe.