I am writing re: the letter ‘Lost on Trudeau’ by John Chambers (The NEWS, July 29).
There has been a lot of controversy stirred up by Justin Trudeau’s requirement that all Liberal MPs be pro choice. That is to say that all liberal MPs are to take the position that abortion is too complex an issue to be decided by anyone other than the woman concerned, in accordance with her beliefs and conscience, and medical requirements as advised by her doctor.
Pro choice is not pro abortion. The way the issue is reported, it sometimes seems like I am the only one that is not missing this point. Pro choice allows those who are against having an abortion to choose not to have one. The point is that one is allowed to choose, and no one is allowed to impose their own idea of morality on anyone else. It is a dangerous and slippery slope to do so.
The pro life lobby really is against abortion. Anti-abortion means no choice.
In such a complex moral and psychological dilemma there are many gray areas, where absolutes and extremism just don’t have the righteous outcome that the anti-abortionists would have us all believe. If absolutes apply, then a woman should be charged with involuntary manslaughter if she experiences a spontaneous abortion. Oh, but wait, a significant number of women do experience a spontaneous abortion in the first few months of their first pregnancy, so how is this to be rationalized in the name of religious values? How can anyone say it is a moral act to force a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy for nine months?
As a woman I can say I am glad I was never in the position to have to make the choice, but I can say that I sure would not want someone making the decision for me. To paraphrase the justification for free speech — I may not agree with a woman’s choice, but I will defend to the death her right to make it.
I think it very wise of Trudeau to insist that none of the Liberal MPs, nor the Liberal Party, get ensnared in this debate. The only way to achieve this is to allow a choice. We will all have a vote next year. Will you vote pro choice, or would you prefer no choice?
Rosemary Holland Drummond
Qualicum Beach