Abortion bill on Isle of Man raises multiple concerns, critics say
.- Amid efforts to legalize abortion on the Isle of Man, critics of a new abortion bill have spoken out in defense of human life, saying the proposal would introduce a number of dangers.
“Every abortion is an act of desperation,” stated Monsignor John Devine, Dean of the Catholic Church on the Isle of Man, in a letter to the island’s Chief Minister Howard Quayle, according to IOM Today.
“The Catholic Church wishes to be supportive of those who find themselves contemplating an abortion, whatever decision they take,” Devine continued, noting his overall concern with the new abortion bill on the island.
He noted his concern that the bill cites “’serious social grounds’ or ‘impairments like to limit either the length or quality of the child’s life’ as justification for a late abortion.”
“The former could be cited if an unplanned pregnancy was considered to be inconvenient,” the priest wrote. “The latter is already being used in the UK to abort children diagnosed with Down’s syndrome or even cleft palate, a condition routinely corrected surgically at a later date.”
The Abortion Reform Bill, which would allow elective abortion up to 14 weeks and up to 24 weeks if medical reasons were presented, was in the clauses stage at the House of Keys last week and has passed the first two initial readings.
Abortion policy on the the Isle of Man, a crown dependency located between England and Northern Ireland, is currently governed by the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1995, which allows abortion only in cases where the mother’s life is endangered or if the baby has a low survival rate.
Read more at Catholic News Agency.
