Cardinal condemns 'eugenic' practise

Published on Sunday 27 March 2005 02:39

SCOTLAND’S main political leaders have backed calls for a debate on reducing abortion limits from 24 to 20 weeks.

In statements which will ignite the controversy over whether tougher abortion limits should be an election issue, Alex Salmond, the leader of the SNP, and Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie, have said they would support the limit being brought down from 24 weeks to 20.

Jim Wallace, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, has called for a debate on the issue, just days after First Minister Jack McConnell said politicians should be prepared to reconsider their views.

It comes with the Catholic Cardinal of England and Wales Cormac Murphy O’Connor this morning comparing abortion in Britain to the eugenic practices of Nazi Germany.

Writing in a Sunday newspaper, Murphy O’Connor claims: "The terrible truth is that it is the strong who decide the fate of the weak. Human beings therefore become instruments of other human beings. That way lies eugenics, and we know from German history where that leads."

The leader of Scotland’s Roman Catholics, Cardinal Keith O’Brien also warns today in his Easter Sunday sermon that MPs who have backed embryo research must soon face the electorate.

Scotland’s political leaders said they were broadly in favour of re-opening the issue.

Salmond said: "It is a key issue of conscience and I probably would vote to tighten time limits in line with the advances in medical science. I believe it should be a matter for the Scottish Parliament not Westminster and should be kept well away from party politics or party policy."

McLetchie, whose UK party leader Michael Howard has already called for a reduction, said: "I think there is a strong case for reducing the time limit from 24 weeks in view of the advances in medical science."

Wallace said: "I believe that there is the case for a debate on whether 24 weeks is too late."

McConnell last week said voters were entitled to raise abortion as an election issue. He also said politicians should keep an open mind on the need for a change in the law. "This is a sensitive issue that is changing in its perspective as the years go by, and there are medical advances. All politicians should keep an eye on the debate and be prepared to reconsider even long-held views in both directions."

In his Easter Day address, Cardinal O’Brien said: "While I appeal for the ending of all abortion, I acknowledge, with Pope John Paul II, that it is indeed legitimate to make an imperfect choice where the object of that choice is the preservation of the lives of unborn aged between 20 and 24 weeks, and so I endorse moves to bring about such reductions."