What does FPA say?

THE EDITOR: I am surprised that in this long discussion about women’s reproductive health and whether the law of abortion should be changed, that we have not heard a squeak from our most established NGO in this field, our Family Planning Association? I had never even heard of ASPIRE  until a year or so ago, yet they are the front runners in this major women’s issue. How come? I don’t understand our FPA’s silence since their sister organisation, the Barbados Family Planning Association, provides abortion services as a matter of course. Recently I read where even our male-dominated medical organizations held a conference on the subject.  They conducted research and discussed the difficult questions.

Now I see that one of our dailies has made a powerful statement in favour of law reform.  Yet we still have not heard a peep from the groups we would normally expect to lead this discussion. As a woman, I am surprised at the silence of all our women’s organizations. Where for example is CAFRA which is at the front of the movement in St Lucia? What about our Network of NGO’s for the advancement of women? Our midwives and our nurses who I am sure know firsthand about the high incidence of abortion locally? I hope that they would all soon make a public statement on this matter of public health.

MARJORIE SPENCE
Port-of-Spain