Have you noticed that the anti-abortion people (read ‘Catholics’) are extremely active these days? Since one week or so, they’ve been campaigning ferociously against the legalisation of abortion, a possibility which has cropped up after the MFPA’s debate around abortion and Minister Faugoo’s somewhat favourably-skewed abortion declarations.
The ‘Comité interculturel pour le respect de la vie’ has even bought (unless Radio One donated?) prime-time advertising space on the radio to air a pro-life message and to invite people to a talk on the issue. There’s a doctor who also regularly writes to the press (specially L’Express, methinks) to stress on the risks associated with abortions.
On the whole, their discourse is basically geared towards instilling a feeling of guilt in people, specially women. And today, Mgr Piat in L’Express declares that the State should not be neutral on that issue, claiming that the government should protect little children indiscriminately, be they unborn.
Ainsi, lorsque Mgr Maurice Piat déclare que “l’Etat ne devrait pas, dit-on, imposer un point de vue sur l’avortement et qu’il devrait plutôt rester neutre et respecter le pluralisme comme il se doit dans une société laïque”, l’évêque répercute ce qui se dit en général dans la société : ce n’est pas là son opinion. Au contraire, Mgr Piat affirme avec force que l’Etat ne peut rester neutre et ne peut se prémunir du respect du pluralisme quand il s’agit de défendre le droit des plus faibles.
Ironically, it seems what he’s actually saying is that the State should not be neutral ‘tout court’, it should take up the Church’s point of view. Yet the responsibility of catering to the distressed mother’s needs should lie with the State, according to him!
De plus, l’Etat a aussi le devoir de donner à la femme en détresse les moyens, le soutien dont elle a besoin pour respecter la vie qu’elle porte en elle
Now, don’t get me wrong. Of course, noone wants to go through the ordeal of an abortion, I would hate to have to do that myself… But I’m tired of the hypocrisy of those who want to dictate others, specially the poor simple-minded. It’s the same people who actually frown upon the poor who fornicate and put lots of children on earth when they can barely earn enough to feed them…
Concerning abortion, I myself have received mails re above. They contain attachments portraying a foetus inside the womb and talking to its mother, and its cries when the mother resort to abortion. The slides even show the dismembered baby.
After that, who would even think about abortion?
hehe clive its just hoax mail.
abortion i believe is thinkable, but it should be done at early stage of pregnancy..
think about rape victims.. do you think having the baby of your rapist is thinkable?? this will remind you of the moments of agony again and again..
young mothers? delivery a kid @ 15 years?
the thing is if a mother doesn’t want a child before its birth what makes you think she will want it afterwards?
there are lots of abondoned kids in Mauritius, some are thrown in litter bins other left on the roads, some buried live..
Many people do it illegaly, and its risky..
making it legal will allow proper conditoning for the process..
I think abortion should be legal. Let’s give women the choice of having the baby or not. A child costs really much and it should be the case that women give birth after being sure the family may support the child’s development.
Also, let’s not forget rape against women, rape against young girls, young girls who did have unprotected sex by mistake (it so happens) and can’t afford a child (financially, emotionally, not a priority since they have to care for themselves first, make themselves independent first…) and all other things that we can imagine like what if the child would be severely affected mentally or physically if born, etc.
In the latter case, the woman, family, must give a serious thought before having the baby. Sometimes it’s better to abort the child so that parents and baby/child don’t suffer.
Abortion is just like euthanasia. Anti-abortion activists are basically as Christina mentioned die hard catholics. Do not even mention the words in front of them or you will be treated as a criminals. Of course, matters such as victims of rape should be considered but then you will be coaxed to go to terms and opt to abandon the child in an orphanage just like Raj mentioned. Another classical theme for a GP subject!!!
also got that mail 🙂 was horrible…
But like Raj, I thk abortion should be allowed in special/unforseen circumstances. esp. concerning rapes.
Btw there was a sort of forum about this issue last Saturday. I thk was in Rose-Hill n organized by the Church.
Some crappy thing about Politics in Mauritius, being a multiracial country, the goverment must kinda fall to the chantage of religious bodies.. be it the church, voh..etc..
“”De plus, l’Etat a aussi le devoir de donner à la femme en détresse les moyens, le soutien dont elle a besoin pour respecter la vie qu’elle porte en elle””
Ok suppose letat give the mother all the things.. support.. health care etc, but the thing is if the mother doesn’t want the kid, what stops her from abonding her child after birth??
besides what kind of support should a young 15 year old mum expect from the state??? the child’s father btw should first be put to prison for have sex with a “mineur”.
Should state provide money?? then since there lots of lazy people in Mauritius, i think they will start poping kids, just to get the money!!!
Church and other religious bodies have been dictating life for ages.
but despite all their endevors i think they’ve fail somewhere..
having an abortion maybe a sin but having a child and let him or her suffer whole life long is a much bigger one!!
i think the church or any religious group should not have a say in those things.legalise it because the final decision is still up to the people. if you are religious and this contradicts with your religion you can choose not to do it. Choice is bliss
Hello
I think that the so-called “anti-abortionists” are missing one crucial point, with or without legalisation, abortion is there and won’t stop.
The “well-off” will go to Reunion island (according to what i’ve heard) and get it done there. The “not so well-off” will go to strange places and be aborted in very precarious conditions – and suffer from gruesome physical pain and mental torture.
So why not set up a structure where women who want be aborted can go for advice (people there will tell them about the alternatives to abortion) and if they want to really have abortion done, they will do that but no more in life threatening conditions and have some kind of psychological follow up.
That can only be done through legalisation!
i think abortion is a serious and sensitive issue, coz we are talking about babies here, human lives!!
there are various reasons for abortion of rape(1%) or incest(0.5%) or can’t affort baby(23%) (in us), don’t know if in mauritius it’s in similar proportions.
check this out : http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/abreasons.html
abortion can’t be just legal or illegal, i think each case should be studied and then decide if it’s legal or illegal. then the debate is in which contidions is it legal?
one thing i agree with Mgr Piat is that the state can’t be neutral on this subject.
I think abortion should be legalised as it is already being practised anyway in Mauritius. If it were to be done in hospitals it would involve less risks of infections and complications and at least the woman would be looked after by professionals. The church should stop clinging to their centuries-old beliefs if only for the sake of showing that catholicism has evolved.