London: A Channel 4 Dispatches programme has highlighted the disposal of human remains from aborted and miscarried babies in NHS hospitals.
Commenting on the revelations in the programme, Paul Tully, General Secretary of Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said:
"We welcome the efforts of those who have highlighted these appalling practices, but we insist that the answer is not as simple as having a new code of practice or better ways of treating babies’ remains. We must stop killing babies like these by abortion and then we will know how to respect the dead.
"The way we treat those who have died is important, yet parents who lose a baby by miscarriage or abortion are rarely consulted over the disposal of the baby’s remains.
"The reluctance to consult families in these situations is undoubtedly linked to our barbaric abortion policies, even if sometimes after late abortions everyone admits that the baby is a baby and tries at least to respect his or her remains.
"There are two issues at stake here. One is the feelings of the parents, and the other is the respect due to the dead - in this case a dead unborn child, killed by abortion or who has died as a result of spontaneous miscarriage.
"Some argue that because very early spontaneous miscarriage is not marked by social ceremony, and may be unrecognised by the mother herself, this indicates that the human embryo is not a person. This approach is used to argue for an arbitrary time before which the unborn are treated as non-persons.
"In fact the unborn has all the essential attributes of a person from conception, even though some characteristics take months or years to develop fully. If we feel differently about the unborn, it is simply because he or she is a stranger - someone we have not yet met or developed affection for.
"Until we reject the abortion culture and learn to honour all mothers - including expectant mothers and bereaved mothers - the sickening consequences of aborting over 500 babies every day will continue to resurface and unsettle us."
Paul Tully can be contacted on landline 020 7091 7091 or mobile 07939 178719 or email paultully@spuc.org.uk.
Alternatively, you can contact SPUC bioethicist Anthony McCarthy on landline 020 7820 3144 or mobile 07883 107358 or email anthonymccarthy@spuc.org.uk.
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