Take stand for morality
Published:Saturday | March 6, 2010 | 12:00 AM
The Editor,
Sir:
The debates are now closed to the public and the passing of the abortion legislation in Jamaica is now left up to a few well-thinking Jamaicans. I was present at the last public debate held at the Glenmuir High School in Clarendon and found the presentations interesting, well thought out and carefully planned.
Let me borrow the quotation of one of the doctors present, who made her presentation at the debate - "Before you tear down a wall, find out why it is erected in the first place." This quotation is well in sync with Proverbs 22:28 - "Remove not the ancient landmarks which our fathers have set." Our National Anthem has embedded in it a very powerful statement - "Guide us with thy mighty Hand; Keep us free from evil powers ..." Let me emphatically say that abortion is one of those evil powers!
We cannot continue to clean up the garbage and not deal with the source of the garbage itself. Have we considered for one moment that abortion is a social issue that is affecting this country, and not necessarily an isolated case? Let me draw your attention to a few landmarks that we have removed and given way to decades of problems, abortion being one of them:
1.
We have removed the sacredness of sex within marriage and lowered its God-given authorisation, blessing and sanctity to common-law relationships.
2.
We have lowered the age of consent to 16 years old - and still trying to lower it again, giving children who do not understand the spiritual, psychological and physiological responsibilities to indulging in such activities the right to do so.
3.
We have erased the spirit of hard work and striving earnestly to achieve what we want to causing people to be dependent on dons and area leaders to give them hand-me-downs. 'The don will provide' is the motto of many Jamaicans. But who really is the don, the area leader or the politician?
4.
We have allowed the airwaves of this nation to be a conduit for immoral and negative portrayals of social behaviours, one of which includes the demoralisation and victimisation of women.
Abortion should never be legalised to an 'on-demand service'. I will suggest that we should give only one reason for abortion to occur, and that is where the life of the pregnant female may be at stake and only abortion can save her life - and this should not only be a decision of medical doctors but also involve the input of a lawyer, pastor, spouse and, where necessary, the parents, as there are serious spiritual, physical and psychological effects in the aftermath of an abortion.
Women who are raped need the service of proper facilities, put in place by the government, where such women can, within 24 hours of being victimised, be able to receive medication from a licensed medical doctor to prevent pregnancy.
Legislation
We must allow the people of this nation to take responsibility for their actions. The law has legislation to deal with murder. Can we then put in place legislation to deal with the outcomes of having sexual intercourse which, of course, will give protection to the unborn child?
Let me humbly suggest to the Government of Jamaica to:
Take back our nation to understanding the importance of abstinence.
Return the sacredness of sex to marriage and develop legislation that will hold persons accountable for the aftermath of having sexual intercourse.
Push aggressively the Fresh Start Programme and recapture the lost generations of our society and return them to sound, moral, biblical thinking - upon which, of course, our laws are formulated and moral foundations for our society were laid.
Become a leader in the world and stand for morality, life and the rights of and to life, rather than a follower of nations who give no regard to the children in the womb.
Set up adoption agencies and proper homes for children who may be neglected, abandoned or unwanted.
Establish crisis centres that can offer counselling and support to women who may have been raped, abused or may have had unplanned pregnancies.
Shut down the demoralising, degrading and dirty music that is influencing our society to become a free-for-all sexual playground.
I am, etc.,
BERNARD DESLANDES
Mandeville
Manchester