Protecting mother and baby

Peter Dingli’s comment (‘Best choice for oneself’, March 6) sadly omits a fundamental truth about abortion.

The pre-eminent human right is the right to life. It exceeds all others in value and importance. Pro-abortion commentators never appear to give any thought to the rights of the unborn child and, indeed, always omit to mention the presence of a second human life inherent within each and every pregnancy.

Every one of us has proceeded along a journey that commenced in our mother’s womb and progressed through birth, infancy, childhood, puberty, adolescence and adulthood; it is an uninterrupted progression ended only by death. 

Participants at a pro-life protest in Valletta. Photo: Jonathan Borg

There is little objective logic in awarding ourselves the right to deny a human being his or her life at any stage of our existence in the absence of very rare and compelling circumstances.

The truth about abortion lies within the statistics available in all nations which allow it to take place. 

A significant majority are not carried out in the context of severe illness or as a response to terrible events, such as sexual assault, but as a consequence of failure to use adequate contraception and a minority indeed as a form of “contraception”, especially in countries where adequate forms of contraception are difficult or impossible to access, with a number undergoing more than one abortion during their lifetime. I saw enough of it in my 43 years as a practising doctor of medicine.

A second “truth” is the fact that the human race has a terrible record in avoiding failure when awarding itself right over life and death.

Malta’s law limiting grounds for abortion to serious threat to maternal life is as near one can get to affording both mother and baby a measure of protection.

Anton Borg – Gloucestershire, UK

God-given gift

May I suggest to Peter Dingli that the next time he comes to Malta he attends the loving Christian burial service of these little children who were miscarried. The utter love and sorrow of the mothers who lost their children, at whatever stage of their pregnancy, is tangible.

Please have a bit of respect to us mothers and don’t try and convince us that when we get pregnant we are not carrying a God-given gift of creation. 

Margaret Parnis England – Kappara