The Editor, Sir:

August 29 is the deadline given for Jamaicans to make submissions to the Joint Select Committee of Parliament, which is considering recommendations for the lega-lisation of abortion.

Many issues have been raised by persons who advocate legalisation.

These include maternal mortality, social engineering, population control and reproductive rights.

The central issue for those who oppose abortion is the sanctity of life. Viewed from a broader perspective, the abortion issue is, in fact, just one example of the modern struggle to balance law and liberty.

Recent measures

Recent events in the United Kingdom may be instructive in illustrating the consequences of making individual liberty the paramount value in any society.

I refer to two measures recently put to the vote in the British parliament.

In the first instance, MPs voted 342 to 163 to permit the creation of embryos that are screened prior to implantation in the womb. The screening is intended to ascertain the suitability of these embryos to serve as tissue donors for a sibling with a genetic disorder. Embryos which cannot serve this purpose are discarded.

In the second case, the vote was 336 to 176 to allow the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos as a source of stem cells for research.

Slippery slope

In his contribution to these debates, Sir Gerald Kaufman asked "How far do you go? What are the limits and what are the boundaries?"

Jamaican legislators would be well advised to avoid the slippery slope of attempting to define which lives are worth living.

The ultimate cost to our country, and our culture, might well prove to be more than we bargained for.

I am, etc.,

Dr DOREEN BRADY-WEST

Kingston 6