A woman’s right

There was a very good reason for making it a reserved matter when the Scottish Parliament was being planned.

We only had to look at the situation in Northern Ireland, where the restrictive laws prevent women seeking an abortion that is perfectly legal in Scotland and England and therefore have to travel to a clinic over here.

Those MPs considering the matter back then decided that it would be foolish to create yet more such traffic, and clearly sensible to have the same law in both Scotland and England.

Already “pro-life” campaigners like John Mason MSP are calling for the time limits to be dropped.

What next? Forbidding abortion to a 12-year-old incest victim? Forcing an adult woman to have a caesarean to prevent her from seeking an abortion? These have happened in the recent past just over the water in the Irish Republic.

Considering Brian Souter is a wealthy donor to the SNP, and is well known to be anti-abortion, I fear for what may happen here in Scotland if devolution of abortion law is carried out.

It may seem tidy to hand the legislation over to the Scottish Parliament, but I would suggest that a woman’s right to have a safe, legal termination is more important than making neat compartments in the law.

Maria Fyfe

Ascot Avenue

Glasgow