Abortion: time to think again; Faiths IN OUR CITY NEXT WEEK: DINESH CHAUHAN.Byline: VINCENT NICHOLS TODAY is the fortieth anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act. It is an important moment for reflection. The Abortion Act was introduced as protection from the dangers, including the deaths of women, of back-street abortion. The Act now gives legal sanction to the ending of 200,000 human lives by abortion every year. This should be of deep concern to everyone. It certainly is a cause of distress to the followers of every major religious faith in this city. That distress is rooted in two key beliefs. The first is the holiness of human life. The second is compassion for those in difficult circumstances, in these cases women who are vulnerable and often frightened. In beliefs of all our major religions, life is a gift of God. Human life bears the mark of the Creator in very special ways: in our spiritual nature, in our freedom of will, in our knowledge of good and evil, making it a particularly precious gift. Human life has great dignity and worth because of its origins and its characteristics. Indeed every human life is a cry for love and recognition. And that cry does not begin with birth, but is part of human life in the womb womb n. See uterus. womb uterus. . It is a cry to which we must attend! Those who argue for the 'reproductive autonomy' of women are failing to recognise both the biological and social reality. Surely it is true to say that in abortion there is more than one victim. So often the decision to have an abortion is painful and shattering. That is because it is a decision that affects not only the pregnant woman, but her baby, the baby's father and their wider family and friends. Surely we can do more to offer help to women who find themselves in desperate situations. Surely we can dismantle dis·man·tle tr.v. dis·man·tled, dis·man·tling, dis·man·tles 1. a. To take apart; disassemble; tear down. b. the conveyor belt conveyor belt One of various devices that provide mechanized movement of material, as in a factory. Conveyor belts are used in industrial applications and also on large farms, in warehousing and freight-handling, and in movement of raw materials. that can often take a young woman through to having an early abortion early abortion Obstetrics An abortion performed before the 12th wk of gestation. See Abortion. without any of the alternatives being properly explored. And surely we can pull back from the practice of very late abortions which, as we heard on BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. Radio Four this week, simply leaves the new born baby to die in the operating theatre. It's time to think again. |
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