Roy Hattersley writes:
Melissa Dear of the Family Planning Association argues that further study is not necessary because "only a small minority of women have an abortion after 20 weeks ... and for those there are good reasons". One of those reasons is, in her estimation, the fact that the prospective mothers "may not have realised that they were pregnant". How can that possibly be a justification for killing a potential, or an actual, human being?
The other day, as part of a radio discussion, a young lady raised the question of a child conceived by rape. Surely, she said, no one could argue against an abortion - no matter how late the date - in such circumstances. The logic of her argument is as disturbing as her lack of respect for life. I give her credit for not demanding the execution of the rapist. If she does not propose capital punishment for the perpetrator of the horrible crime, how can she justify the death penalty for one of its victims? The rational conclusion is desperately hard on the woman who has been violated. But unless the preservation of life comes first, we are savages. [Seeregendered for an alternate view.]
The reason that immediately leaps to my mind why a rape victim might not seek an abortion because she didn't realise she was pregnant until (according to Roy Hattersley's standards) it was "too late", is because she's a very young girl. A thirteen-year-old, a fourteen-year-old. Even an eleven-year-old. But, to Roy, only a savage would say a rape victim should have an abortion - savages like the people who run Human Rights Watch in Mexico, or like the Eastern Health Board in Ireland.
Tags: feminism, powerful speech vs. powerless silence