The Pope and the Child SIR,—Believin g that a little experience
is worth a good deal of theorising, I venture to write as a wife and mother of firm Christian principles and practice who, though in the hands of a skilful gynaecologist, has had to make the choice between my own life and that of an unborn child, and, subsequently, face the question of sterilisation.
Fr. Russell praises the " heroic parents who have chosen to give their lives for their children." Their conscience possibly may have been right, but I cannot think that mine was wrong. The decision is rarely so simple in reality, even when the attempt is made to look at the question from as selfless an angle as possible. There is a duty, surely, to one's husband, and perhaps even more to the young children one may have already, who are yet quite unable to face life without a mother's care and pro- tection. And is it fair to the expected baby to throw him helpless on the world without the mother he so vitally needs ? The attempt to love one's neighbour as oneself (a higher law surely than "Thou shalt not kill ") may lead one to actions the exact opposite of that advocated by Fr. Russell Both Roman Catholics and that small but definite body of opinion within the Anglican Church which agrees with the Papal pronouncement, at least as regards sterilisation and the use of contraceptives, would do well to remember that other quality as assuredly God-given as those of self-sacrifice and heroism, the humble virtue of common sense.—Yours
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