Alice Wallace, director of Equality Bahamas, interviewed on Eyewitness News on 19 August, regarding the case of an 11-year-old girl impregnated by her mother’s boyfriend, said:
“I have seen no evidence that this country is sympathetic to the needs or suffering of women and girls in this country. We are far behind in getting this done. Abortion is healthcare. It is a critical form of healthcare that should be made available to everyone who needs access to it, not only in situations of rape and incest, though obviously those are very difficult situations and definitely necessitate the availability of safe abortion for survivors.”
In contrast two pastors told Tribune 24 that they “oppose abortion even in cases of rape”.
National Security Minister Wayne Munroe told the Tribune he expects police to investigate the alleged statutory rape of the girl and the abortion, which he said was illegal.
All of them were responding to the news that an 11-year-old girl, who was allegedly impregnated by her mother’s boyfriend, was able to have an abortion with pills obtained for her by her mother,
SOURCES: Eyewitness News, 19 August 2023 ; Tribune 24, by Lynaire Munnings, 18 August 2023.