ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The president of the Antigua & Barbuda Evangelical Alliance (ABEA), Rev. Dr. Olson Daniel, is urging the government to resist any attempt to legalize abortion in the country.
“The Evangelical Alliance is of the firm persuasion that what the bible says is what we should live by and that is that somebody is not just somebody when they are born, they are formed….in the womb, and the bible says that,” he said.
Speaking on Observer Radio on Tuesday, amid reports that a group of medical practitioners have filed a lawsuit against the government on the issue of abortion, Daniel said that the laws of Antigua and Barbuda forbid anyone from committing abortion or anybody assisting in abortion.
“This case is filed by a practitioner who, of course, is given the right to abortion. It will be for their financial gain and otherwise, and so the Evangelical Alliance stands firm that they will not support the abortion case.” Listen to audio
Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin said the government will defend its case as much as possible.
Daniel told radio listeners that steps have been taken to object to the move, which could result in a peaceful protest.
He said that the first step was to write a newspaper article and have an audience with Prime Minister Gaston Browne outlining the Alliance’s position. He added, “We are prepared to raise peaceful protest…to raise our objection.”
Daniel said that apart from the spiritual objection to abortion, it must also be understood that abortion is murder and “so the murder rate will increase significantly.
“We have to look at the socio-economic aspect of it. If our birth rate is less than two percent…it also means that the nation would be underpopulated as it were,” he said, adding that in neighboring Barbados, a debate is going on there regarding the socio-economic effects of underpopulation.
“And what you have happening if the death rate stays constant or escalates and the birth rate reduces, do the maths, in the next 30, 40 years what the population will be,” he added. Listen to audio
Abortion has been declared illegal in this Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country since 1895, and it cites a sentence of up to 10 years for any woman who “procures her miscarriage.”
In 2022, the government said I would commence discussions on potential changes to the abortion laws amid sustained fallout in the United States from a significant Supreme Court decision that overturned the historic 1973 Roe v Wade ruling and declared that the constitutional right to abortion in America no longer exists.
Chief of Staff in the Office of the Prime Minister, Lionel Hurst, said there would be a debate in the Parliament “on the possibility of altering the law to enable abortions to become legal and lawful in Antigua and Barbuda.”
The International Campaign for Women’s Rights to Safe Abortions has welcomed the move by two women and two healthcare providers from Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda in filing the first-ever constitutional challenges to colonial-era abortion laws in the Caribbean.
The organization, which claims to have an international membership network of more than 1,600 global, regional, national, and local organizations, networks, agencies, coalitions, and other groups and individuals based in 130 countries, said last month that in seeking gender justice for impacted women and health care providers, the women and health care providers have asked the local courts to determine whether these laws are consistent with rights granted under their constitutions created at independence.
It said England itself amended the 1861 law with the passing of the Abortion Act in 1967, which allows for abortion on specified grounds, and that only Barbados (1983) and Guyana (1995) have enacted comprehensive non-criminal legislation expanding legal access to abortion care.
“All other Caribbean countries still leave their women at the mercy of a vague criminal law, which in Dominica and Antigua creates a near total ban on abortions – with the only apparent exception being made for pregnancies over 28 weeks and only if done to save the life of the woman. The abortion laws in both countries subject women, girls, and health care providers to imprisonment of up to ten years if convicted.”
The organization said that ‘these brave women and health care providers contend that the laws are an affront to women’s and girls’ bodily autonomy, disproportionately impact poor women and girls and constitute unjustifiable sex discrimination since men are not subjected to similar restrictions on their sexual and reproductive health.
“Additionally, they assert that the laws are used to justify the government’s failure to put in place effective policies and services to ensure all women and girls have access to abortion care as part of a broader access to sexual and reproductive health services.”
It said that there have been cases in Caribbean countries where women and health care providers have been convicted or charged under abortion laws similar to those in Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda.
“In 2021, a woman in the British Virgin Island was convicted for assisting her daughter to access abortion care, and a healthcare provider in the Bahamas was charged with helping a teenager procure an abortion in 2023,” it added.
Download full audio – Rev Dr Olson Daniel – President of the Antigua & Barbuda Evangelical Alliance (ABEA)
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