Fathers Gregory Ramkissoon and Richard Ho Lung are taking a new approach in their drive against the legalisation of abortion.

They are seeking direct feedback, from citizens, to their message about defending the lives of the unborn.

At a breakfast hosted by Ho Lung at the Corpus Christi Monastery, downtown Kingston, yesterday, Ramkissoon said he and Ho Lung have had several meetings in the past few months with women in central Kingston, the Rastafarian community and pastors. He said the breakfast was a continuation of their efforts, with approximately 35 pastors attending.

Ho Lung said the group has been well received and that citizens are asking for more.

"We're going to build it up because many of them want to do it again," he said of the talks the group has held. "We initiated it, but it's the people who are calling for more of these meetings because they don't know much about abortion and they want to learn."

Facility for babies

Ho Lung is now looking forward to constructing a facility to house 200 babies and 200 mothers at Heroes Circle in Kingston. He said that at that facility, all expenses for the babies would be catered for and all attempts would be made to secure employment for the mothers.

The guest speaker at the event was Dr Wayne West, a member of the Coalition for the Defence of Life, which was formed in response to the deliberations on the possible legalisation of abortion in Jamaica.

During his presentation, West pointed to several arguments that have been presented for legalising abortion but rebuffed each, saying the policies in the United Nations are driving Jamaica to push for abortion policies.

West said there must be a point at which a line is drawn when it comes to taking the life of a living being as this might lead to an erosion of other values to the detriment of society.

"In the not-too-distant future, lots of the traditional values, a lot of the things we hold dear to Judaeo-Christian morals will be swept away under the rights argument. We will not be able to say anything because we will be locked up for hate speech. It's happening, it's gonna happen again and we need to do something about it," he argued.