The CEO of the Royal College of Midwives, Professor Cathy Warwick, defended her actions after unilaterally signing them up to a campaign for complete legalisation of abortion up to the time of birth.
35,000 people signed a petition demanding a rethink and hundreds of midwives signed a public letter of protest concerning her move. One midwife commented: ‘I chose to pursue a career in midwifery because I wanted to help women and babies throughout one of the most vulnerable times of both their lives... Yet the campaign that the RCM has signed up to is antithetical to this wonderful calling.
Professor Warwick insisted there would be no going back on the policy and suggested that only a small minority of midwives opposed her. She went on to claim that abortion was ‘part’ of the role of a midwife – as part of family planning – and saw no circumstances under which abortion is wrong.
No moral absolutes
In essence Warwick is saying: 1. There are no moral absolutes (despite claiming one by stating abortion is never wrong). 2. The only consideration is ‘choice’ for the mother. 3. Abortion should be seen as a method of birth control. 4. The unborn child has no rights. 5. Professional ethics should not play a role in midwifery.
The Times columnist Libby Purves observed: ‘This is heavy-duty, industrial-grade, armour-plated feminism: not the thoughtful, delicate balance of human rights that many of us struggle with day by day… Removal of the 24-week limit places the wishes and lives of women as pre-eminent and unquestioned, even when the child they conceived and are bearing has grown for long enough to emerge to a good life, whether with its birth mother or through adoption.’
