HAMILTON, Bermuda, Sept 30, CMC -The Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) has expressed support for a review of the restrictions on a woman’s right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy.
In a statement, the WRC expressed “deep concern that in 2024, systemic barriers continue to prevent women in Bermuda from exercising their fundamental right to make decisions about their bodies and futures”.
It has thrown its support behind government legislator, Arianna Hodgson, who spoke on the issue on the Senate last week, telling legislators of her shock after a couple who sought to end a pregnancy had their decision overturned by a legally mandated medical group, the Therapeutic Abortion Committee.
The Junior Minister for Labour, Finance and Health told said she had been contacted by a young woman friend the previous weekend who “didn’t know what to do” after her application got turned down.
“I immediately put on a few hats, concerned friend, concerned mother and, immediately after that, I became the concerned legislator,” she added.
In its support for her position, the WRC said the existing laws are “unconstitutional and outdated” and that the island faced a “critical opportunity” to deal with the matter as a human rights issue.
“We commend Senator Hodgson for her courage in confronting a topic that is both divisive and crucial for women’s health and rights,” the .WRC said, noting that her comments lifted the lid on a topic seldom put to open debate in Bermuda.
“Abortion remains a sensitive subject in our community, but that sensitivity should not deter us as advocates and leaders from addressing this critical issue.”
Abortions are legal in Bermuda, but require the approval of a committee of “obstetricians, a psychiatrist and a general practitioner” .
WRC executive director, Juanae Crockwell, said “we are acutely aware of the challenges women in Bermuda face regarding access to abortions.
“Although current legislation allows for the procedure, requiring a woman to seek approval from a committee for a personal health decision is demeaning and fundamentally undermines gender equity.”
“No equivalent legislation governs a man’s anatomy or his ability to access procedures that benefit his health. Moreover, the process to obtain an abortion is often inaccessible for low-income or uninsured women, highlighting another layer of healthcare inequity,” Crockwell said.
The WRC said abortion had a history of getting framed as a moral or ethical issue and that it was “imperative to view it for what it truly is — a matter of human rights and bodily autonomy”.
It said women should be “empowered to make informed decisions about their own health and wellbeing without external interference or undue barriers”.
Crockwell said the “essence” of the WRC’s empowerment and prevention programmes for women meant giving them “the confidence, education and tools” to make healthy decisions and informed choices for themselves and their families.
“Denying women the right to make decisions about their own bodies fundamentally undermines that principle. While the topic may be sensitive, it is, at its core, simple: a woman must have the ability to make choices about her body, her future and her life,” she said, adding “stripping away that choice, in any circumstance, is deeply problematic”.
The WRC called it “a human rights and social justice issue that affects the entire community” and said denying the right to choose undermined principles of equality and justice “upon which our society is built” and called the existing legislation “outdated” and in need of reform.
The WRC said that only 51 countries permitted the termination of pregnancy at a woman’s request and without requiring justification. It said 22 countries allowed abortion based on social or economic circumstances, while 11 countries permitted it in cases where the pregnant woman had intellectual or cognitive disabilities.
“As Bermuda grapples with its own laws and policies on this issue, we are presented with a critical opportunity to determine where we stand on women’s rights and bodily autonomy.”
CMC/af/ir/2024