Cole is wrong to import here the West’s decadence!

SIR—A news brief in your paper of July 17 titled “Leave women” quoted the Marie Stopes representative, Mr Alan Cole, as claiming that the Government “has no right to interfere with a woman’s decision” to terminate a pregnancy. In his words, “Marie Stopes (does) not promote abortion; but...women have a right to choose” in this matter. I am afraid that the silence of many in this country who cherish our cultural and religious rejection of abortion may be misconstrued for assent. To anyone who is conversant with the Western world’s moral decadence and licence in matters of abortion, Cole’s statement is typical of the abortionists’ rhetoric. It all begins with elevating the woman’s right to divine rights making the defenceless child in the womb a non-entity. Obviously we do not expect the little child to speak up. In no time at all the child in the womb is assigned a nice new scientific name, “foetus,”that ensures he/she is denied human status. Then it becomes easier to be rid of this non-entity which is an intrusion on the woman’s body and right! And it is no longer termed murder but the more diplomatic language, “to have a child or not”. I firmly hold that human life begins at conception (Psalm 51:5) and that the defenceless unborn is a human being whose life God shall surely avenge (Exodus 21-22-25). Both our cultures and religions in Uganda firmly reject the level of decadence advocated by Cole. Besides, if science calls the unborn a “foetus”, it will call another a “child”and Mr Cole an adult”, without due reference to when human life begins. This question is ethical, and fits in well where science, religion and culture meet. Where in the western world human life has been defined loosely, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia and similar evils have resulted. We must rejected them in Uganda. Furthermore, he argues that the government has “no right”in the matter thus making the woman’s right absolute over the unborn child she carries. In my view the government’s most supreme task should be to protect the defenceless. And woe unto us when our government does not do this in the name of protecting or giving license to the powerful! This is exactly what injustice is made of. For all our African injustices even in the government, God help us. I fear for statements like Cole’s, from Marie Stopes. He should tell us if we should now confirm our suspicions given there was a time Marie Stopes was in question over this very matter of indiscriminate abortions. Lord God, please have mercy on the unborn Ugandans, and give us compassion to protect rather than murder our children. Amen. Rev Canon Dr John Senyonyi Chaplain Uganda Christian University Mukono