What Price Human Life?

Yes, I'm supposed to be having a blog-free week, but sometimes events take over, and this is too important to ignore. And no, it can't wait. At least I'm not blogging after my official bedtime!

So, what has rattled my cage? Quite simply, it is the proposal to have abortions carried out in doctors' surgeries. I have to admit that, when I heard about it, this made me feel physically sick. It is so easy to obtain an abortion in England. I have never heard of any case where an abortion was prevented because two doctors' signatures could not be obtained. Pregnancy, unless a woman goes into her doctor's surgery clutching a positive pregnancy test and beaming, seems to be thought of as a "problem" to be dealt with.

However, it is common sense to see that, the further along a pregnancy is allowed to go, the harder it is for everyone concerned to pretend that they are "removing" a "bunch of cells" or a "blob of tissue". Too many people have seen the ultrasound images. So, to salve their consciences, they have to get in there much more quickly. Also, there aren't enough properly qualified staff to carry out those awkward later abortions. People get upset at the sight of tiny fingers and toes ripped apart by a vacuum pump, or, even worse, being delivered in bits.

This poses a problem... the hospitals and abortion clinics can't quite keep up with the workload. And there are delays in getting appointments... And so, some bright spark has thought out a way to make the problem disappear...

You can get your abortion done at your GP's surgery. No need to go into hospital, not even a clinic. It also has the advantage of anonymity... watch those ghastly pro-lifers squirm as they realise that they cannot hold prayer vigils outside every doctor's surgery, and so have no chance of telling women that there is another choice possible. And, of course, many GPs work alone, so there's no chance of getting a second signature, so that requirement will be waived... and, because the woman is just coming in for a little tablet, there's no need for any of that time-consuming (and expensive) counselling...

It's not even being debated. It's happening at two locations already... as a clinical trial.

John Smeaton, SPUC's National Director, said, "The blunt instrument of government policy is being used to engineer conveyor-belt abortion, giving women less time to think and creating even more pressure on them before having an abortion. This is also an attack on conscientious objection, trying to wear down the medical profession's increasing resistance to abortion."

Human life is considered of such little worth that it can be disposed of without reflection, without difficulty. How long before "unsuitable" women are given tablets by their GPs without their consent? Impossible? But it used to be considered impossible that a person could be starved and dehydrated to death: food and drink was basic care, not "treatment." Oh, and consider what "unsuitable" might mean... after all, any woman who has a third pregnancy is treated as something of a pariah by many health workers, who ask anxiously if the woman knows about contraception; the consideration that a large family might be a free choice is anathema.

This is evil. There is no other word for it.

We cannot remain silent in the face of evil. We need to protest, or we will one day be held accountable for the lives destroyed. SPUC are encouraging people to write to their GPs and to their MPs. If you are unsure of who your MP is, you can check via this website. You can also send an email through the site.