The Institute of Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) and the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) will host a public discussion entitled "Establishing Common Ground: A Conversation on Reforming the Law on Abortion in Jamaica". The Forum takes place on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 3 pm at the Undercroft, UWI Mona.

The public discussion will be moderated by Professor Neville Duncan, Director of SALISES and will feature presentations by Attorney-at-Law and Women's Rights Advocate, Margarette May Macaulay; a representative of the Coalition of Lawyers for the Defence of the Unborn and Dr. Deanna Ashley, Honorary Research Fellow with the Open Campus, UWI.  The event will also feature a dramatic presentation by the renowned grassroots women's organization, Sistren Theatre Collective, performing their historic skit which was presented before the Joint Select Committee in Parliament in March.

This public forum is being hosted in the context of the ongoing wider debate on the proposed reformation of Jamaica's legislation governing the termination of pregnancy.  The conversation is intended to provide an opportunity and an environment in which the issue of abortion can be discussed broadly, taking into account the public and health implications of the existing law, and religious concerns regarding the rights of woman and fetus.   This conversation aims to look at various perspectives on the issue with a view to finding common ground in which the lives of women will ultimately improve. 

The public is invited to attend.