P R E FA C E Many a man has ideas, which he hopes are true, and useful for his day, but he wishes to have them discussed. He is willing or rather would be thankful to give them up, if they can be proved to be erroneous or dangerous, and by means of controversy he obtains his end. —Cardinal Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua1 The issue at the heart of this book has troubled me for some fifteen years. It should have troubled me for a year or two longer, but I was reluctant at first to let it trouble me. I can understand why readers committed to a policy of supporting restrictive abortion legislation, as part of a strategy intended to lead ultimately to a total prohibition of all abortions, may be reluctant to consider whether their commitment has been right. I understand because I too was committed to such a policy. My commitment was such that I interrupted my undergraduate studies in 1987 to work full-time for the pro-life movement in the UK, eager to do everything possible to help David Alton’s Abortion (Amendment) Bill—to be discussed in Chapter 1—to become law. I did not want to hear expressions of fundamental concern about supporting the policy to which I was committed. During the course of the Alton Bill I became aware of the considerable disquiet felt by my friend and pro-life colleague, Alison Davis. The bill excluded disabled unborn children from the protection given to those who were not disabled and, having been born with the sort of serious disability for which abortion is commonly regarded as the appropriate “solution,” Alison had particular reason to be concerned about the exclusion. As the leader of a group within the Society for the 1. John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1864; reprint, London: Collins, Fontana, 1959), 298. xi Protection of Unborn Children set up to promote the right to life of disabled people, she found herself in an impossible position.2 The Alton Bill became a trial for her. I regret that I, like many others, was unwilling then to give serious consideration to her concerns. Since 1989 I have had the privilege of being Alison’s personal assistant , and not only have I come to understand her concerns, but they have become mine. This book is the culmination of those concerns. For its flaws I take full responsibility, but if it has any merit, much of this is owed to Alison’s contribution. This book is the fruit of much discussion with her, much redrafting of the text—with Alison’s helpful comments on several drafts—and, in particular, it is the fruit of considerable suffering on her part. Without Alison’s inspiration and ongoing support this book would never have been written, and I—like the pro-life movement generally—owe her a considerable debt. There continues to be a general consensus within the UK pro-life movement that a strategy to protect the unborn gradually, by restrictive or “incremental” legislation, is entirely justified. In the United States and some other countries there has been more controversy, with prolife groups taking different positions on the question, some adopting a view that is broadly sympathetic to my concerns. A book of this sort cannot avoid contributing to, or even arousing, controversy. Controversy can, of course, be damaging, but if it is rightly undertaken with respect and charity for those who hold different opinions, it can be fruitful . It is my hope that this book will assist the pro-life movement in its vitally important work. Catholics within the pro-life movement have the confidence of knowing that disputed questions, like the one discussed in this book, can be resolved by an authority whose judgment can be safely depended upon—and those whose views are judged to be erroneous or dangerous should be willing and thankful to give them up. The purpose of this book is not to convince readers of the rightness of my argument but to encourage them to consider it: to reject it if it is unsound, and to xii preface 2. At the time of the Alton Bill the group was called SPUC’s Handicap Division. It has since been renamed No Less Human. Alison Davis has been coordinator of the group since 1983 and is recognized as one of the most compelling and authoritative speakers for the pro-life movement in the UK. [44.203...