Abortion

Abortion is not an easy subject for balanced debate but this useful volume in the Points of View series attempts a dispassionate analysis of the issues. I covers religious and social aspects of the debate and considers the comparative rights of the mother and father of the unborn child. It also focuses on the attitudes of doctors and nurses and the emotional trauma for the woman choosing abortion. The most successful chapters, however, deal with the rights of the unborn child, ownership of embryos in the laboratory and the question of the post coital pill (which can be regarded as an abortifacient rather than a contraceptive). These tackle complex ethical issues very clearly, albeit briefly. The book is carefully balanced and makes good use of reports from a variety of sources (including the national press and medical journals) to develop arguments both for and against abortion. It will be useful for classroom discussion. Only in the conclusion is the author's opinion expressed - and in an eloquent way - 'Each case is different, each woman a person with her own needs, her own hopes and her own dreams. Who are we to judge her when she makes what must be the hardest decision of her life? And who is to say whether she was right or wrong?'