This Open Letter from Dr Dane Abbott concerning Grenada’s Age of Civil Responsibility Bill was sent for publication by Dr Tonia Frame, President, Board of Directors, Grenada Planned Parenthood Association (GPPA).
Dr Dane Abbott
Obstetrician/Gynaecologist
The Women’s Clinic
Penny Lane, Fort Road
St John’s, Antigua
Dear Minister:
Open Letter to the Minister of Health, Wellness and Religious Affairs
Congratulations on Grenada’s courageous leadership in addressing the need for adolescents to have access to healthcare without the hurdle of parental consent. This is a bold step, yet one that is long overdue in our region.
As an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, scarcely a week goes by where I am not faced with requests for guidance and service from adolescents. Like other health professionals, I routinely urge them to involve their parents. But too frequently, the situations they describe make that option an impossibility. Then I am left in a quandary since doing nothing is certainly not “doing no harm.” But doing almost anything places me in jeopardy with the law. Even just speaking with those younger than 18 is perilous.
Your bill promises to change that miserable equation for children and health workers. It will give children living in abusive situations a clear path to professional care. And it will allow caregivers freedom to counsel and work with them.
Your bill is good news for good families. They must overcome their discomfort, end their silent avoidance, and speak openly about sex with their children. And it is very bad news for bad parents since their children are no longer prisoners of their abuse. They can walk into clinics and get professional help.
I have no doubt that you will face a hurricane of righteous criticism from several quarters, some sincere, many will be hypocritical. Please remain steadfast in the knowledge that your bill will protect hundreds of children who now have no escape from abominable abuse.
Sincerely,
Dane Abbott, BSc (Hons), MD, FRCS(C), FACOG
Cc: Prime Minister
Minister of Social and Community Development, Housing and Gender Affairs
Chief Medical Officer
The first step to helping these children is protecting them from sexual predation and sexual abuse. We have some of the highest incidences of sexual assault of minors in our region with some of the lightest sentences attached to them. Fix that first.
If parents were having conversations about sex and relationship with their children this bill will not be necessary in order to safeguard their health and wellbeing. Parents naively believe that if they don’t talk about sex, their children are not engaging g in it. Children attitudes towards this subject are shaped by their parents, other adults around them and unrestricted access to media amd print. Are parents mindful of what they are modelling and exposing their children to from and early age?
What safeguards are in place in social spaces, home, schools and religious spaces including cultural celebrations to reduce children exposure to unhealthy messages about sex and relationships. The government and parents should work together. Children do what they see not what adults say.
Grenadians are very well qualified and have an obligation to speak to matters which concern them in this bill and we have have every right to have those matters addressed. Additionally this bill does not provide an escape for children from ‘abominable abuse’ . That will be achieved when the various identified gaps in the Child (Protection and Adoption ) Act are closed. There needs to be clarity on the point of intersection on these 2 and other relevant bits of legislation.