Advocacy group, Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) is calling upon the government to re-affirm its commitment to not sign the controversial ACP-EU Agreement which will require Jamaica and other Caribbean signatories to grant universal access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information and education.
Comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education promotes sexual diversity and sexual orientation, among other things. Previous efforts by a special interest group to quietly introduce aspects of this curriculum to children were strongly opposed by the church and concerned parents. This same concern is being raised in some developed countries where lessons on anal sex, oral sex, and pregnancy options, including abortion, are now mandatory in schools.
According to article 48 of the Caribbean protocols under the new ACP-EU Agreement, parties to the Agreement, “shall further stress the need for universal access to quality and affordable comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information and education, taking into consideration the UNESCO international technical guidance on sexuality education, as well as the need for the delivery of sexual and reproductive health-care services.”
In a letter addressed to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith on October 3, the JCHS sought to ascertain the current status of the Agreement and requested clarity on a comment that was attributed to her that, “Jamaica is not going to be a party to any such thing to influence our children in any such way.” The JCHS wants to know the steps the government has taken since to ensure the Minister’s reported statement is officially communicated to the EU
Prior to the message regarding Jamaica’s stance, which was delivered on Minister Jonson-Smith’s behalf by Information Minister Robert Morgan during a Town Hall Meeting at Jamaica College on September 9, both Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Education Minister Fayval Williams had invited President of the Love March Movement, Dr. Daniel Thomas to come and meet with them, after he expressed concerns about the Agreement. Freedom Come Rain (FCR) newspaper was informed that those meetings have not yet taken place.
Chair of the JCHS, Dr Wayne West questions the interest in sexual and reproductive health education, considering that the ACP-EU Agreement has traditionally been centred on trade. He said the Coalition is not against teaching children about sex, but they are opposed to the notion that children have a right to comprehensive sexuality education.
“This new thing that you can be whatever gender you want and men can be women and men can have babies, that is total madness, and we are not a part of it,” he remarked
He has also taken note of efforts to get countries to sign to adopting “human rights” without clearly stating what these rights are.
“They have not declared what a human right is and how they determine a human right, but they certainly have come with the LGBTQ ideology, and also the consideration is that any group that does not honour these human rights will be punished or can be punished,” he told FCR Online.
“What you have is a situation where they are not spelling out what human rights are, but they are the ones determining human rights,” he said.
Jamaica is among 79 countries that make up the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and is expected to sign off on the new partnership agreement with the European Union.