Why rights must start in the womb

THE Abortion Act (1967) effectively set out that babies in the womb could be disposed of like commodities, regarded as "non-persons" and denied their human rights for even the most trivial of reasons.

Abortion is now offered as some sort of humanitarian solution to practical problems, and on that basis has been deemed morally justifiable and more and more acceptable. References to women's rights aim to convince people it's some sort of entitlement.

The freedom to make personal choices is a right but when pregnant there's another human being in existence and the "choice" of abortion takes away that baby's right to life.

Early feminists opposed abortion on these very grounds, saying as they were fighting against being treated as "commodities" why would they want to impose such treatment on others, let alone children.

As calls are being made for the current legislation to be liberalised further it is not just those in the womb who are at risk any more, as we saw last November when one British medical body suggested "mercy killings" for severely disabled infants.

Sadly this call was not the first and such suggestions are becoming more prevalent as our society comes increasingly to accept quality of life judgements that decide whose life is worth living and whose is not.

No longer are we discussing whether abortion is right or wrong in the UK, now we focus on time limits and, chillingly, at what stage the unborn baby can feel the pain of being aborted.

These attitudes are a direct result of the passing of the Abortion Act, because what that enshrined in law was a justification for economics or practicality to be used as a reason to destroy human life - moreover, human life at its most vulnerable stage.

We now talk of "'viability" of life in cases of suspected disability and of the right to end the life of someone who is not "wanted" instead of having laws that protect and promote respect for the rights of all people, no matter what their stage of development or state of mental or physical health, or the circumstances of their conception.

We are expected to accept this legislation so women can choose to end the life of their own child - even though it can impact on them in the most negative ways - instead of legislation that addresses the problems women face that force them to choose abortion as a life solution. It is sold to women as some sort of cosmetic procedure by pretending the unborn child is not fully alive, as though there are stages of being human, and many endure their regret and grief in silence afterwards thinking they are the only ones.

In Lothian there were 2543 abortions last year. Dr Anna Glasier of NHS Lothian is reported to have said that most of the abortions in the region "could have been prevented" by things like better sexual health and relationships education.

Our failure to educate has already cost thousands of lives in Lothian alone and will have caused irreparable damage to many of the women involved.

Pro-abortion advocates would suggest these figures are preferable to those from the days of back street abortions, but the World Health Organisation Statistics for the 1960s showed there were three, ten and seven abortion-related deaths in Scotland in 1960, 1962 and 1965 respectively, and deaths from abortions have continued to take place in the past 40 years.

By accepting abortion, we allow our society to continue masking the social problems that lead to them like poverty or lack of support for mothers in education. Because it's an option, it enables employers not to have to make concessions to women and allows discrimination against mothers.

After 40 years women are still in the same predicament: they still earn less than men and rarely reach the top spots; they still do the bulk of the care-giving and housework in the home; and added to all this they are given no support for a crisis or unplanned pregnancy other than the "choice" of aborting their child.

After 40 years women deserve better than abortion.

• Donna Nicholson is spokeswoman for 'pro-life' lobby group SPUC Scotland. The post-abortion counselling service, British Victims of Abortion, can be contacted on 0845-603 8501.