Issues of Llife & DdeathSt. Andrew’s Church30 October 2005The Presidential race in America was allegedly fought about it while Michael Howard’s pre-General Eelection comments brought the issue to the forefront earlier in the year. Abortion, it seems, is an issue that cannot be avoided and one which sits firmly at the ethical and political crossroads.It is commendable then that St Andrew’s church took on the daunting task of providing a forumfor such a vital discussion as part of their one day conference entitled Issues of Life and Ddeath. The most interesting, and perhaps controversial of the day’s discussion was led by the Chief Eexecutive of LIFE, Martin Foley, who discussed the myths and reality of abortion in society today.Foley carefully laid out his talk by asking his audience to consider abortion not as a solution but as a problem. Pointing to spiralling STIs and increasing abortion rates, that exceeded the 200,000 mark in 2004, the thrust of Foley’s argument was that society needs to re-evaluate its attitude towards life.It was clear where Foley’s bias lay, but in keeping with the ethos of the conference as a day to encourage debate and explore the moral intricacies of such controversialtopics, he refrained from “righteous condemnation” of supporters of abortion and reiterated that his work was directed towards providing care and support for those who found themselves in crisis pregnancy situations. It was also commendable that Foley himself was quick to point out the weaknesses in his own arguments, though one wonders whether this was a deliberate ploy to protect himself from criticism – “taking the wind from their sails”, as it were.Keen to distance himself from the militant activities of Aamerican anti-abortion groups, Foley stressed that in order to oppose abortion, you have to offer an alternative. Termination is only one possible avenue for pregnant women and his lecture urged the government to place greater emphasis on adoption to counter the demographic crisis faced by western society.To give a one-hour lecture on an issue like abortion is clearly insufficient and Foley’s talk touched on a whole host of connected topics, such as the psychological impacts of abortion, that could have done with further consideration had time permitted. From the audience interest shown in the lively question and answer session that sadly had to be cut short, it proved Foley’spoint that whatever our views on abortion are it is not something that can be ignored but needs much more open discussion.ARCHIVE: 4th week MT 2005
