Ah, the joys of knowing that you're always right

Ah, the joys of knowing that you're always right

by Ian O'Doherty,

One of the interesting scabs reopened by the Ms D debate has been the bafflement felt by many people at the utter refusal of some religious people to even consider the possibility that it might actually be a kindness - rather than a mere convenience - to terminate the pregnancy of a foetus which will be ultimately born without a brain.

An interesting example of this mentality arrived in the ISpy inbox yesterday, and sat there smugly until it was eventually opened. And these are its words of wisdom: "Isn't more natural to let nature take its course? Who knows, the child might not be as badly affected as the medics predict."But even if the child is going to die, then after the natural term, he or she will die naturally without the recourse of some 'surgeon' tearing it to pieces limb from limb... how sick is that. Women have the right to be protected from abortion, as have their children."Since when does killing innocent and defenceless children become merely an option, a choice? God have mercy on us all."

And these are interesting points, so let's deal with them. Should we just let nature take its course?Applying that logic, the last Pope would have been dead 10 years sooner had his medical team not done so much to stop nature taking its course.

And as for "protecting women from abortion", the last time any of us heard a man talking about protecting women from making their own decisions came from the Taliban. Not that there's much difference between that lot and some of the more excitable fundamentalists in this country.

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=45&si=1829239&issue_id=15618