Sir, – I agree with Medb Ruane (July 21st) that late-term abortions are unacceptable but find it startling the manner in which she proceeds to invent her own arbitrary time limits for the purposes of denying the humanity of the unborn child at earlier stages of development.
She says “on any scale there is a qualitative difference between an embryo of 10 weeks and a foetus of 24 weeks”. This is a weak argument to justify deliberate abortion at 10 weeks or at any stage. The only difference between the two stages of life is growth and development. The same argument could be used to compare a new born baby or an adolescent with a mature adult.
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