HOWEVER well intentioned, the proposal of health authorities and others in pursuit of a reduction in pregnancies fails to heed the lessons over the years.
Despite the use of contraceptives and the availability of the pill for many years, surgical abortions increased. Likewise, they increase despite the availability of the morning-after pill.
In reply to a question in the House, Yvette Cooper, Health Minister, claimed the morning-after pill was a "safe and effective way of preventing pregnancy".
The pill is in fact, an abortifacient drug now being provided to under-age girls without their parents' knowledge. Interestingly, it has been revealed that two-thirds of the official safety panel which recommended over-the-counter distribution have drug company interests.
We have this preoccupation with sex education (if some of the outrageous material issued to schools can be termed education), but we hear little about the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases for some of which there is no cure.
We need a great deal more than so-called sex education coupled with a free issue of pills to overcome the grave social problem of young people lacking moral guidance and unaware of the physical and psychological perils.
B H Tetlow
Chairman, LIFE
LIFE House, Newbold Terrace
Leamington Spa, CV32 4EA
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