Conscience should be exercised on abortion vote

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place”.

In a country where the exercise of personal conscience for members of virtually all political parties is now expressly forbidden, no effort is really required to discern what Gandhi’s anxieties would be.

It is very worrying for a modern democracy, not only that the exercise of personal conscience is forbidden, but the not-so-subliminal message that there will be ‘consequences’ for those who fail to adhere is reminiscent of a darker age.