We have got to trust women’s own moral codes on abortion

This is the latest in a handful of letters on the subject this week:
Letter to the editorLetter to the editor
Letter to the editor

Letters from Donald J Morrison (June 22) and Dr James Hardy (June 25) provide two wings of attack on women who support a woman’s right to choose.

One uses the imagery of murder, innocent blood and holocaust, while the other talks of death-bed-guilt over abortions and pretends that the magic force of maternal love could have overcome all difficulties.

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How is either view helpful or based on the lived experience of real women?

We must not add to the many burdens already on women at the difficult time of an unwanted pregnancy.

Both these letters confirm my fear that emotive language and images would be used to deflect from realistic debate about complex real-world issues around abortion.

In my past NHS clinical career, I saw all too often the negative psychological consequences of being born to a mother who had neither the emotional, social, or physical resources to parent in a healthy way.

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Motherhood can be challenging, even for those lucky enough to have good support.

We have to face life as it is, not as we wish it to be.

I have enormous respect for people of faith and know many who draw on that resource daily.

But we have to trust women with their own individual moral codes; compassion and humility are core; no-one welcomes abortion into their lives, but for some circumstances it is the least harmful outcome.

Dr Carol Greer, Belfast BT6

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