26 AUGUST 1978, Page 15

The right to life

T ,L agree with Colin Brewer (5 August)

mat if the IUD is conclusively proved to be abortifacient rather than contraceptive it Ivshhooulsdeebk o e to condemned by . all

Tr ending protect unborn human life. such conclusive proof LIFE ePeats its oft-stated condemnation of any

method of inducing abortion, whether selfadministered 'gel', 'morning-after pill', or the more familiar methods used by Colin Brewer's employers, the private abortion agency, British Pregnancy Advisory Service.

The publicity surrounding the successful birth of a baby conceived in vitro admirably illustrates the truth that human life begins at fertilisation. If a human being conceived thus were to be deliberately destroyed, as allegedly happened, recently in America, before implantation in the mother's womb, that would be abortion and as much to be condemned as any deliberate killing of an innocent human being later in pregnancy or at any stage of his or her life. Human beings do not become more valuable as they grow older, though Colin Brewer obviously thinks they do if he can say that 'becoming a human being is a gradual process'. When does that process cease? With 'A' Levels?

His argument inevitably leads to the conclusion that strong, healthy, intelligent, 'wanted' people are superior to others who may be too small and young (the unborn), too weak (the handicapped, sick, elderly), too demanding (the poor and 'unwanted') to defend their basic human rights, including the right to life.

LIFE prefers to be logical and to defend the right to life of all human beings from conception onwards. We don't like discrimination on any grounds, including age and size.

N. Scarisbrick

Hon. Administrator, LIFE, 35 Kenilworth Road, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire,