Public Outcry Against Abortion Delays St. Lucia Law to Liberalize Abortion

CASTRIES, October 29, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Caribbean-island country of St. Lucia saw the abortion debate heat up last month.  The 90% Catholic nation of 160,000 was shocked in early September with the government’s introduction of a bill to allow abortion in cases of rape, incest or for the health of the mother.  Pro-life legislator and cabinet Minister Sara Flood Beaubrun joined a large demonstration of over 2500 against the proposed bill.  Beaubrun, Home Affairs Minister, fended off charges of breaching cabinet unity saying, “In all true democracies that I know of, there are certain subject matters that ministers of government are allowed to speak on according to their consciences, and the abortion issue is one of those.  It would be sad if it had to come to me losing my job over this, but I am prepared to lose my job and more, for this cause.”  After the demonstration the government announced it was delaying the debate on the legislation. Carribean Update reports that Attorney General Petrus Compton said the decision may mean “delaying the bill for another month or two or three”.  The pro-abortion lobby group pushing the legislation is the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research (CAFRA).  Inter Press service notes that at the Mass preceding the demonstration Archbishop Kelvin Felix told the crowd, “the children who have been aborted have no chance. We must be safe in our mother’s womb. We must not allow a mother’s womb to become a death chamber!”  See the Caribbean Update coverage:  https://www.caribupdate.com/REGION%20Sept%2026%20Abortion%20debate.htm