Abortion and the worst of all sins: indifference

I AGREE with Rory O’Donovan (Letters, May 16) that the cruelty involved in bloodsports is more likely to raise protest in certain political circles than the cruelty of abortion.

This is not a uniquely Irish phenomenon. Britain, which is often described as a nation of animal lovers, permits abortion up until birth.

Since 2004 the EU has been supporting the use of stem cells from human embryos that are destroyed in the process as an alternative to animal testing.

The EU has also introduced regulations to ensure there is proper labelling so that consumers can ascertain whether certain products have been tested on animals. This is to be welcomed. However, there are no such proposals to label products which have been produced using human embryonic stem cells, embryos, foetuses or foetal material.

So while one may be relieved to read that a particular product may not be tested on animals, this is no guarantee that it was produced ethically.

Our failure to vindicate the rights of the unborn is a poor reflection on us as a society.

To quote the great playwright George Bernard Shaw: “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity”.

Mairtín O’Maolruaidh

Polkeen

Tuam Road

Galway