Abortion clinic

Press, 20 November 1982, Page 14

Abortion clinic

Sir,—J. Goodger and C. O’Malley (November 18), like many young people, have been told a lot of things that “ain’t so.” I hope they will learn to find out the truth for themselves. Here are some questions to begin with: What percentage of pregnant- women die? What percentage die because of abortions? What percentage of pregnancies naturally abort? How do these risks vary with duration of pregnancy? When does the foetal brain activity rise above that of an anaesthetised patient? Do young mothers suffer serious psychological problems? Does exploring a situation with good counselling before a decision avoid later guilt? Does the New Zealand abortion law inhibit f good counselling? Does guilt' correlate with religious upbringing? Honest answers to these questions are necessary before rushing to judgment on the abortion issue. — Yours, etc ALAN WILKINSON. November 18, 1982. Sir-Abortion, and more especially infanticide, have been common practices throughout human history; only modern Western society has systematically tried to consider abortions at all righteous. Today, all deplore infanticide; yet an abortion simply kills the same baby a few months earlier. It is therefore very significant, in reply to Julie Watson (November 18), that “redefinitions ’ have emerged to justify this act. Each human life is so precious that nobody has any right to take anyone else’s life. Just .as the foetus exists, though we cannot see it till birth, so God is real, though we cannot see Him. Indeed, we live because God breathes life into us; but this must be perceived spiritually.' God well understands human life’s agony. Jesus died a horrible death for a crime he did not commit. So the pain of existence does not justify wrong acts, though it may explain them. — Yours, etc., R. M. ANDERSON. November 18, 1982.