Owning abortion

Published on 26/10/2012 00:00

I see Ruth Wishart (Perspective, 25 October) is of the opinion that men really shouldn’t have a say in the abortion debate.

For such a serious subject, one about life and death, this is painfully fatuous. Men are fathers, men are taxpayers, men are 
citizens, and men are also 
certainly abortionists.

In fact, most abortionists are men and most of the people who profit from the abortion 
industry are men.

Men are also frequently responsible for abortions, in that they do not fulfil their roles as fathers, they abandon vulnerable women who are pregnant, and they bring pressure to bear on women they have made pregnant because they do not want the responsibilities of 
fatherhood.

Surely it is the quality of the argument rather than the
gender of the individual making the argument that should inform our position.

Nor do those women who argue that men should not comment about abortion even mean this; what they mean is that men who oppose abortion should not comment about the issue, but then again they usually believe that no person, male or
female, should speak out against abortion.

The laws of a state are not formed only by the people whom they directly affect, but by the full state, represented and led by the government and the judiciary for the good and protection of all people (except the unborn), whatever their gender, race, religion or background.

Disrespect for the unborn signals a greater disrespect for human life and is morally corrosive. Is abortion a choice? No, it’s the taking of a pure, innocent, unborn life. Many people understand that, and it’s a tragedy that they are too often dismissed and ignored.

Martin Conroy

Oldhamstocks

East Lothian