Silent cries from the crowd

THE EDITOR: Abortion is legal in Trinidad and Tobago. Ms Jacqueline Allamani’s opposition to abortion law reform is misleading (Newsday March 14). The question that ASPIRE has raised with the government is the need to expand the grounds for legal abortion.

One of the myths fuelled by the anti-choice brigade is the notion of a ‘silent cry’ from the womb. The silence that is truly deafening is our deafness to the suffering of 4,000 poor women who enter our public hospitals every year as a result of botched abortions. There are no fewer than 15,000 abortions in Trinidad and Tobago annually. This debate is not about abortion — for our criminal law has not prevented abortions. Our law has merely made them dangerous for poor women. The debate is about social justice and the responsibility of the state to provide adequate public health for all its citizens.

The silence that is troublesome is the remarkable denial of the majority of adult women who have had abortions, none of whom have the courage to speak out in favour of the need for wider legal provisions. The silence we should mourn is the quiet of public health professionals who every day confront the injustice of an absurd law, but are intimidated by the social stigma of abortion and the loud screams of anti-choice persons. We should all be disturbed that there has been no response to a well-researched and reasoned submission presented to three offices of our elected government more than 100 days ago. Regardless of the issue, that silence is hardly an encouraging signal. Ms Allamani writes of the foetus and of men, but never of women. We never seem to appear in her considerations except as victims — victims of unwanted pregnancies and victims of abortions. Well, I have news for her. We do have minds and we do make choices — safe or not. As for me, my choice to continue or discontinue a pregnancy is a responsible, prayerful, pro-life choice.

LD WARREN
ASPIRE