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Make abortion safe for poor women

While legalising abortion may lead to a drop in the number of unsafe abortions, a gynaecologist/obstetrican from Barbados yesterday said facilities also have to be provided to make the service available for poor women.

Dr James Boyce said even with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1983) in Barbados, women still have to pay for pregnancy termination. “Women who probably need pregnancy termination most are the women least able to afford it, and when you put abortion in the province of greedy medical practitioners what is that going to do to those poor women who want to have pregnancies terminated but cannot afford it?” Boyce asked.

He was speaking at the Family Planning Association Health Forum “Saving Women’s Lives: Our Rights and Responsibilities” at Crowne Plaza, Port-of-Spain.

Providing an overview of the legislation, Boyce said under 12 weeks termination is legal if continuing the pregnancy would endanger the life or health of the mother or result in the birth of a seriously handicapped child.

He suggested that a legal framework was necessary to “permit” the acceptance of abortion in society. “Beyond that we need to make sure there is provision of facilities and personnel to make the procedure available to all who need it not only those who can afford it.”

Before the law, Boyce said a significant number of abortions were being done by hospital orderlies, pharmacists and other untrained persons.

The techniques used and the places where they were done were not controlled.

Boyce said it was common for women to lose their lives because of haemorrhage, sepsis, and “sometimes renal failure due to the insertion of chemical agents like Lysol, Dettol and Savlon which some of the untrained persons used to inject into the woman’s womb.”