Lesser evil
Sir: When I read Amanda Craig's article on termination of pregnancy (Poor woman . . . poor potential human', 5 January) I was surprised when I compared it to the cover drawing. The sponge forceps might be used in the operation, but none of the other instruments and certainly not the scythe, even if the dripping blood had been removed. So the drawings were symbolic of the threat by the surgeon, but there was no suggestion of threat in the description of Mr Paintin, his nurses or the students. The decision had been reached for each of these women that abortion was the lesser evil.
Those of us who worked in gynaecology wards before the Abortion Act remember the ill and desperate women who had tried to end a pregnancy by self-induction or by attending an abortionist. Most had pelvic
infection and the likely outcome was permanent infertility. The women patients described in the article would have reco- vered in a few days and would have a 200-1 chance in favour of future fertility. The letters in The Spectator have mostly been from those who oppose abortion. In jus- tice, both sides must be heard, and we have not heard the stories of the women who came for operation. We can be sure that for each the dilemma had been faced and discussed.
The abortion law is with us, as Lord Vernon (Letters, 12 January) reminds us and the criteria have remained unchanged except for the reduction of the time limit from 28 to 24 weeks.
Elaine Rankin
Hill House, Aspatria, Carlisle, Cumbria
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