Doctors should be allowed to perform abortions on underage girls once their parents give them the go-ahead, says executive director of the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA), George Griffith.
And he’s calling for the reform of “archaic legislation” to make it possible.
Insisting that he has no apologies to make for his position, Griffith stressed yesterday that “in no circumstances should a 12-year-old or an 11-year-old be permitted to carry a pregnancy to full term”.
His call follows two recent incidents in the region – one in which award-winning obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Lloyd Goldson was arrested in Jamaica and faces the possibility of life in prison after performing an abortion on a 12-year-old last month, with her mother’s permission.
In Trinidad and Tobago there is also controversy over whether an 11-year-old who was raped and impregnated by her father should be allowed to end the pregnancy.
