Dear Colleague,

Jamaica has robust legal protections for unborn children, and its citizens strongly disapprove of abortion as immoral.  Yet the Caribbean nation is facing mounting pressure from activists both inside and outside its borders to liberalize its abortion laws, to the point of making it legal on demand.

This Definitions examines the arguments being used to convince Jamaica's voters and parliamentarians to support abortion, with the backing of the European Union.  This includes framing children born from unintended pregnancies as "unwanted" and doomed to be unhappy, and even criminals, who would be better off never being born.  Such pessimism flies in the face of the UN 2030 Agenda's bold promise to "leave no one behind" as well as basic human rights.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
Director of Research

For decades, countries with pro-life laws have faced increasing pressure to liberalize their laws, both by direct pressure by international expert bodies and other governments and through attempts—thus far unsuccessful—to establish an international human right to abortion.  In recent months, Jamaica has become the target of a well-organized and well-funded campaign to remove legal protections from the unborn and ensure that abortion is not only broadly legal but also readily accessible.

Like a previous Definitions focusing on Kenya, this article examines the debate around abortion in a specific country—Jamaica—to inform our understanding of how the abortion debate is occurring in other countries as well as at the international level. Read More >>>