You would love it here. Abortion in Haiti has always been illegal and always will be. 90%+ of Haitians are Christian with the 2 predominant religions, Baptist and Catholic, conservative and anti-abortion. Most of you probably identify as conservative Christian also. You certainly don’t need to worry about equal rights for women or the #Metoo movement , as male dominance is very prevalent in both church and home. Abstinence outside of marriage is the preferred method of birth control for young people and for married people “children are a woman’s duty and gift from God”.
But if you decide to visit, please don’t dig any deeper than the surface, as the reality is much different from what you will hear. In speaking with one health care worker who has been here for many years, they estimate that 70% of Haitian women have attempted to end an unwanted pregnancy at some time in their life. This may only be an estimate but was based on a 6 month survey of women. Read that again … 3 out of 4 women have tried to end a pregnancy, most without success. A “didn’t want” pregnancy can be ended thru misoprostal (this is one of the drugs that is used in the US for medical abortions) bought from a street vendor, Pitocin from a bootleg pharmacy, a surgical abortion from a doctor who has a clinic to make extra income, drinking some type of poison and on and on. The doctors here think that things have improved for women since they have been able to obtain misoprostal as there are less women trying to end a pregnancy with sharp objects stuck in their vagina, perforating tissue and the uterus.
If you come, please bring health education and particularly sex education materials. Although contraception is provided free by the government in family planning clinics, many women have misperceptions about the benefits of contraception and don’t use it. This is also likely due to the perceived sin of using artificial means of contraception within the Catholic church. In only 1 week here, I have heard from patients that they will lose weight, not be able to have future children, develop mysterious aches and pain and build up too much blood in their system. The best excuse – Their partners don’t like them to use anything.
Don’t bring your thoughts and prayers. They don’t feed your 2 young children when you are too sick from pregnancy to go to work. They don’t protect you from a husband that beats you. They don’t make your married boyfriend answer his phone after you have told him that you are pregnant. They don’t prevent your parents from making you stay home from school when they find out you are pregnant age 16. They don’t stop the boy next door from raping you one night on your way home. These are the circumstances that many Haitian women find themselves in and why they choose to end a pregnancy. They take the risk of bleeding, poisoning or bodily damage because the alternative of continuing the pregnancy is much worse.
If the United States overturns Roe v Wade, some states will make abortion illegal. They will also limit access to contraception and education for women. Women will still get pregnant with a “didn’t want” pregnancy and become desperate to change their situation. Parts of the US will look like Haiti. Be careful what you protest for.
obdrmama 