The Antigua and Barbuda Parliament will meet early next week to discuss abortion rights issues with the government hinting that the session would allow for “some altering” of the law as it relates to abortion.
Abortion has been declared illegal in the CARICOM country since 1895, and Chief of Staff in the Office of Antigua’s Prime Minister, Lionel Max Hurst, speaking on a radio programme here, said that Parliament will meet on Tuesday to debate the issue.
“The Parliament will convene one day next week, I believe it is next week Tuesday…and at that meeting I think we will have some discussion on the possibility of altering the law to enable abortions to become legal and lawful in Antigua and Barbuda”.
Hurst statement comes in the wake of the decision by the United States to outlaw abortions reversing a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion. Last week, the Supreme Court voted to strike down the landmark Roe vs Wade case, making access to abortions very limited across the United States.
