That abortion
Sir: I really must write and express how shocked I am by your advertisement 'Six Arguments Against Abortion.' I have no doubt that the sponsors of this advertisement are sincere in their beliefs, what is shocking to my mind, is their lack of intelligence and common sense, and the glib way easy answers are arrived at by obliterating all meaningful distinctions, the most important of which is that a foetus and a child are not the same thing. One is potential and the other is actual, and this difference is as crucial as it is obvious to all ordinary epople who are not theologians.
What is it about these 'children,' asks the advertisement, "that deprives them of their status as human beings?" The answer is very simple. They are not 'children,' they are unconscious foetuses.' Even if left alone, about 15 per cent of them will perish in "spontaneous abortions" ie they will be aborted by God, not Man. This is why women who need abortions are not prosecuted for murder (to answer the second question posed) and this is why 'humane people' do not condemn therapeutic abortion as 'atrocities' (to answer the third question).
As for the three out-of-context quotations with which the advertisement begins, I should like to make the following comments: (1) Anti-abortionists are always complaining about the strain on the NHS of legal abortion. Presumably, Mrs R. Short, who is quoted here, was pointing out to such people, that the alternative, a maternity case, puts even more strain on the NHS. This is to say that the 'economic ' case against legal abortion is a non-starter. (2) It is true, as Mr Crossman apparently pointed out, that but for the Abortion Act, we would have more children to look after in public institutions who are both illegitimate and unwanted by their mothers (or they would not have applied for abortion). Surely, it is desirable to have fewer unwanted children in your society, than more? We can't cope decently with the illegitimate and unwanted children that we already have in our society, so don't let us deliberately start manufacturing even more. (3) "Abortion is only one of the techniques women use to prevent birth." Thank goodness for that, and let's hope it is a declining method. Birth control is better than abortion, but abortion is surely better than unwanted children, especially in our crowded island?
C. F'. Lan gdon Wall Cottage, Alnwick, Northumberland.
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