Event protest was inappropriate
Back in 2012, when the Olympic Torch reached Plymouth Hoe, the local branch of SPUC handed out pro-life leaflets on the Hoe.
Without expressing his opinion about abortion, D Carter said that our behaviour raised the word “inappropriate” to a higher level, caused offence, confirmed his suspicions that we are single-issue obsessed zealots who take their lead from the USA, and demanded that we extend our concerns for unborn children to the ones who have been born.
Our argument
IN MY opinion, respect for the dignity and worth of each human being from conception to natural death is the most fundamental political principle of all, because it affects every person, every issue, and every part of society.
I must therefore protest against your decision to publish a letter which accused anti-abortion campaigners of being fanatics because they exercised their right to hand out leaflets in a public place.
After four-and-a-half decades of being shouted down whenever we open our mouths, I can assure your readers that calling us names, chanting slogans, and changing the subject are not going to work.
If anyone wants us to stop saying that abortion is a crime against the humanity of the unborn child, they need to convince us that babies in the womb are something other than young humans.
I contend that they only insult us because they have no answer to our one and only argument against abortion.
Bernard John Toolan.
Other pro-life letters
“We were trying to save lives” by Arthur Woode, “Protect Life” by Peter Hanrahan, “Think Long” by Tony Waring, “Think of Unborn” by E. Wojciechowska, “Denied Life” by Gerard Moan, “This Darkness” by The Kemps, “Why Not” by Gareth Jones, and “eternity” by Fran Walker were all excellent letters which eventually provoked a second letter from Mr Carter.