Baby murdered - how does it differ from abortion? (16 September 2003)

Dear Sir

It's a terrible thing when a mother murders her own newborn baby. While the 21-year-old Delft mother who made the front page of the Cape Argus on 15 September clearly needs help (she stabbed her baby in the head two hours after giving birth in a shower), we commend the police for opening a murder docket. According to the Constitution, every South African has the right to life. The Constitutional right to life is not worth the paper it is written on if we do not apply it to the weakest and most helpless members of our society.

Ironically, the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act would have permitted this gruesome murder, had it been done by a doctor three hours previously. All this young woman would have "needed" is the opinion of a doctor and a midwife that the continued pregnancy would endanger the woman's life; would result in a severe malformation of the fetus; or would pose a risk of injury to the fetus. You have a right to life - unless you're still in your mother's womb?

Despite almost seven years of abortion on demand in South Africa, Christians continue to object to this grisly practise. Sunday 5 October is International Life Chain Sunday. We urge all who love life to support their local life chain. If we want to truly be a just and equitable society, all innocent human life must be protected.

Jeanine McGill