Dear Editor:
Is Dignity a Human Right?
We appreciate the impassioned statement from Kingdom Leaders that abortion is not a human right AntiguaNewsroom, October 23).
Can a girl who is raped and forced by the state to carry a pregnancy to term have dignity?
What is, or is not, a human right is a matter of declaration. Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the World Health Organization which has declared access to abortion as health care and so a human right.
We have made no such claim.
Our approach to abortion law is rooted in health and in the social harm of restrictive laws.
We regard rights as the means to an end. For us, that end is the dignity of safe motherhood.
Kingdom Leaders is proud of its opposition to the COVID vaccine and yet exhorts us to provide “solid scientific facts.”
On one hand they reject life-saving science and on the other demand data “grounded in statistics.”
We have done exactly that. We now know that among women attending public health clinics, 80% report their first pregnancy was unplanned, 26% report being victims of childhood sexual abuse, 20% report being victims of partner violence and that the main reasons for their non-use of contraceptives include cost, fear of methods and partner objection.
We know that 85% of so-called teen pregnancies result from relations with men 20 years and older.
We know that about 70% of women in the state will have at least one abortion by age 44. Which means that about the same proportion of men have been party to those abortions. Abortion is normal.
This quiet carnage of women by men is the grand “moral fabric” of the society that Kingdom Leaders claims it wants to preserve.
Restrictive abortion laws do not prevent abortions, and they do not protect the sanctity of life. They are ignored by women of means and they harm poor and young women.
They criminalize and stigmatize health care and suppress the reproductive education and public discussion we need.
Sincerely,
ASPIRE
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Yes it is, but the people of Antigua have none. When a gunman gets the greenlight to sit in Parliament and make laws after shooting a PREGNANT woman 🤰 is that infanticide or forced abortion?
Tessa’s daughter would have been a big time lawyer TODAY. She would have had a well reasoned position on this very issue.
This is the sad reality. But Antiguans seem to care more about politics than human life! That baby was snuffed out! Robbed of life and the opportunity to contribute to the development of Antigua and Barbuda. Such a tragedy! so much for “People First”
Regardless of what is in our history, these laws have been there forever and we live in an ever changing dynamic world. We women are traditional, spiritual, practical, ambitious and modern too. Many of these laws were established in that era and must be revisted and revised. A rape or incest victim should be in a position to make a decision as to whether she wants to have that child or not and if the child is a threat to the existence of her mother, it should not be illegal for doctors to save the mother’s life.
Of course, dignity is a human right! Is the abortion procedure dignified? What is so dignified about dismembering a child – pulling apart limbs, laying them out and checking to make sure that all body parts have been removed from the womb? Abortion is not a human right. Human rights do not come from the World Health Organization. They come from the Creator of this entire world. They are rooted in the Sovereign God.
I will say this again, the moral thing to do in this case, is to allow folks to make their decision. Hive them the freewill. Somethings are so personal and unique to the person, society must give them the hunan righ, dignity and benefit of making their own decision. As this will never be a 1 rule fits all.
Men and woman of God, pray, you will be able to get the answer I got from the One True God. And the answer will not be the one you think it is, like you think it would be right sitting in the church and worshipping God while a donkey is in need of help to not die. It is not going to be the answer you think God wants. I promise you this.
If we are not helping to feed the child then we can’t force the mother to carry the child to term. We can’t know the intricacies of each woman’s situation and the reasons behind her decision. We pick and choose parts of the Bible to uphold in law, but other parts are totally ignored. Isn’t adultery in the Bible too? If we can mind our business for that, then we can mind our business for this too.
These statistics are non-sense. Just careful crafted language and made up numbers. Unplanned and unwanted are two TOTALLY different things. I bet even the author’s parents were surprised when they became pregnant. We have already acknowledged the extreme circumstances of rape, incest and medical complications (which should be accommodated in some way) but here’s a statistic for you that I heard…those cases are less than 1%. Let’s be honest, they are appealing to the desire for guilt-free sex, which will later open a market for aborted tissue (big money). Has anyone considered that a condom prevents more than pregnancy? Is that not in the interest of public health?
Lastly, what about women’s rights…the right to be born? Wouldn’t getting killed in the womb but some medical practitioner (what became of “do no harm”?) deprive you of some fundamental rights?
So what of wars: is that a human right to be summarily killed by the wish or will of the state: after being born by forced will, or free will; thus negating one’s personal rights to choose? And what thereof of a conscientious objectors right to one’s conscience? Everything is not rooted in the secular or that of religious dogma when pertaining to life and dignify thereof when viewed from a universal perspective; and the narrative is not fostered by the state’s sway or, stance on tradi values. Thus the right of a female to render onto her conscience is an inalienable right as the possessor of her body
and, cannot be dictated to or deprive. Thus too, as in the case of being raped or the victim of incest; wherein, therefore society has no sway of interjection. Thus stated. I am in concurrence that a woman do have and, reserve the right to chose for what ever personal reasons: whether to bear or not to bear the presences of a child.