Freedom of speech is a right which cannot be qualified
IN Rosemary Goring’s diatribe against the pro-life protestors at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow (“I so protest against anti abortion evangelists”, The Herald, January 18), she avers that they are entitled to freedom of speech – but only in ways she does not find offensive.
Freedom of speech is a right which cannot be qualified. Once you start to qualify how it may be expressed, it is no longer free speech.
She then goes on to contrast her own secular values based on “science and health with judgmental ideologues “who weave ‘Christian spells’ based on superstition and voodoo”. Science is an ethics-free exercise which cannot tell us anything whatsoever about what we should do.
Indeed it is a trope known to most undergraduates that positive statements about how the world is, such as those made by scientists, cannot be made logically to lead to a normative statement of how the world ought to be. Therefore her “secular values” are just as arbitrary and subjective as any value judgments made by the religious.
One of the few things I think that we can all agree on in this secular age, is that freedom of speech is absolutely essential. No-one has the right to block it, no matter how politically correct they are. John-Paul Marney, 15 Marlborough Court, Langside, Glasgow. ROSEMARY Goring’s article is predicated upon her assertion that Queen Elizabeth University Hospital has allowed “anti-abortionists to protest outside its premises during Lent” and from this she goes on to assert that they have “given this group its blessing” and that they have sanctioned “such blatant propagandists” which she adds is “deeply disturbing”.
The hospital has given no such permission since it can’t, because it has no legal standing upon which it could (and it isn’t a protest, it is a prayer vigil). Therefore its blessing has not been imparted. Hugh McLoughlin, 24 Russell Street, Mossend, Bellshill. ROSEMARY Goring brings up the usual superficial arguments against the anti-abortion movement which don’t bear scrutiny. How moral is it for a child to be punished for the sins of their parents? For a child to be given a death sentence because conceived by rape or incest? Our society protects murderers from the death they deserve but it won’t protect children from the desire of their mothers’ to get rid of them. Is it any wonder that Christians, whose leader suffered death to give life “more abundantly”, have to cry out at death being administered in an institution dedicated to preserving life?
Yes, this is the desire of secularists but let it be known that this nation is not secularist, it is a constitutional monarchy established in the name of Almighty God.
It would be better for Ms Goring and other secularists who support the killing of their fellow humans, to show more respect for the right of protest to those who wish to defend the innocents in the womb. David S Fraser, 191 Sandyhills Road, Glasgow. ROSEMARY Goring has a rather conflicted view of abortion. She says “that the unborn child has a right to be protected from harm, and from casual or unthinking annihilation” whilst also adopting the eugenicist view that abortion “can sometimes also be the most responsible, caring thing to do, even for the foetus”. It is somewhat ironic that someone who has already been born can decide whose life is unworthy and who should face “unthinking annihilation”. Note also the switch between “unborn child” and “foetus”.
Ms Goring highlights the reality that abortion is a difficult and painful decision which can and does lead to intense emotional strain and sorrow. This begs the question, why allow women to go through such pain and heartache?
Surely women deserve better than abortion and should be given real choice, the choice not to have an abortion. How many times do we hear women say they feel that they have no choice? When society tells women that it is all right to get rid of their child, it has failed them. When society coerces women into having abortions, it has failed them. If society is to be truly pro-woman then that means wanting the best for women, which is not abortion.
With regard to the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil, I would suggest Ms Goring attend to see the reality of such a pro-life event. I’m sure she will be pleasantly surprised. Having been to many I can say that they are always peaceful and positive. The intimidation and harassment is usually levelled at the pro-lifers from the pro-choice side. I cannot repeat here the verbal abuse I’ve experienced for simply believing that all human life has value and worth and that women and their unborn children deserve better than abortion. It is my hope that our society will wake up to the horror of abortion and start building a culture of life. We must love both mother and child. Martin Conroy, Daisy Cottage, Oldhamstocks, East Lothian.