ABORTION is seldom an easy decision.
There are few women
who treat it lightly and maybe those who do aren’t those most fit to
receive a Mother’s Day card.
But the recent intemperate, strident remarks from Bishop Joseph Devine, in which he linked abortion to the Nazi death camps, was a rant too far.
Such comparisons not only belittle the full, foul horror of the Holocaust itself but do nothing to encourage a civilised debate.
Possibly there are things to be debated about the Abortion Act, including the current time limit.
Some people are uneasy, given the advances in medical science and the better survival rates of premature babies, that it is legal until 24 weeks.
However, there is no excuse whatsoever for the intimidation and harassment of those who are seeking a termination.
It is legal.
The law is also something that is supported by the vast majority of the population.
Furthermore, the bishop does not know the circumstances of those attending a clinic.
For instance, how does he think a rape victim might feel if faced by one of those fanatical protesters, whom he admires, with their seven-foot-high explicit placards?
Coincidentally, on the same day as the bishop was making his comments, the Catholic Church in Victoria, Australia, was becoming yet another place to concede that many children, possibly thousands, could have been abused by their priests.
If the church’s hierarchy had put one 10th of the zeal into exposing the paedophiles within their midst, as they do campaigning and preaching against matters of personal conscience, such as abortion and gay marriage, they could have rooted out this evil much earlier than they did.
They denied and delayed, while playing pass the parcel with priests who were an evident danger to children.
So I put it to the bishop – had you and other princes of the church acted quicker, there might not be so many abused and damaged adults across the world who wish they had never been born because of the abuse they suffered.