Life matters

Predictably enough, there have been no calls this week for the Irish referendum on abortion to be re-run, no complaint from Ken Clarke about the ‘-tyranny of the majority’, no moaning that the campaign had been in any way unfair. Neither should there have been. The Irish people have made a fair and democratic choice and the result should be respected.

Less respect seems to have been forthcoming, however, for the views of the Northern Irish on abortion. On the contrary, no sooner was the result from south of the border announced than the calls began for the government in Westminster to impose its will on Northern Ireland and liberalise the province’s abortion laws. Shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti, playing on Theresa May’s claim to be a feminist, suggested ‘the test of feminists is whether they stick up for all women’ and impose liberal abortion laws on the province. It was a remark which was ignorant as well as intolerant — far from ‘all women’ supporting abortion, polls which have broken down responses according to gender have tended to show that women generally have less favourable views towards liberal abortion policies than men do.