Respect and Ruth

Published on 27/10/2012 00:00

I read with interest Ruth Wishart’s article on abortion (Perspective, 25 October).

The last time I checked, men and women were necessary for the creation of new life. ­Although men do not carry the child in the womb, many love and care for the child before birth, and during all the years that follow. Their views should not be excluded from the debate on abortion.

While it is not necessary to hold a religious faith to value human life, in the past, most people believed that life was from God, and this was a given, permeating the interstices of our culture, reflected in our laws, shaping attitudes, even those of non-believers.

There is now a missing ­dimension with respect to life’s value; the dimension of reverence. When this aspect is so ­diluted, or ceases to be recognised altogether, life becomes less sacred.

It is not only the life in the womb that is rendered more ­dispensable, but the lives of those nearing their end. And this seepage undermines the mores that protect all of the vulnerable in our society.

The slippage has begun and it is becoming alarmingly common to hear of the instances where the worth of the person is not seen; only their nuisance value. One thing is sure, we cannot have a mature debate if pejorative words like “bigot”, “phobic” “hysteria” and “extremist” are attached to those whose opinion differs from our own.

This is an unworthy ploy to disqualify, without giving a hearing, to a valid, but opposing viewpoint.

Nancy Clusker

Edinburgh Road

Bathgate