Letters: Abortion laws show we're a fickle society

Why is a baby in the womb not also worthy of our care and protection instead of being targeted for destruction, asks a reader. Photo / File

I was saddened to see the headline in the Rotorua Daily Post 'Abortions to be done in Rotorua' (February 22).

Then as I turned to page three I was suprised at the two conflicting stories on the page. One reading 'Hospital to offer terminations' and the other 'Pair charged over smoking drugs that harmed baby'. I thought how fickle our society has become: one minute we are saying it's okay to kill the unborn child and the next we are sending a couple to court for harming a baby through drugs.

When I had my first scan at 10 weeks pregnant I saw my baby sucking its thumb. It was eye opening and beautiful.

Still pondering our fickle society, I think about the slogans - Alcohol harms the unborn child, smoking harms the unborn child, drugs harm the unborn child ... and abortion kills the unborn child!

GABRIELLE KILKELLY
Rotorua

On page 3, February 22, the Rotorua Daily Post reported about a man and woman being charged for "omitting to discharge of their duty to care and protect" a child by smoking synthetic cannabis in the baby's presence.

How ironic that at the the top of the page is another report about how Rotorua Hospital will now offer "terminations" of pregnancy as a "routine service".

Why is a baby in the womb not also worthy of our care and protection instead of being targeted for destruction? Dr Pinfold is quoted as saying, "Women have the right to choose" ... what?

Let's stop hiding behind euphemisms and spell out what exactly it is that is being chosen; namely the deliberate killing of a child in the earliest stages of development while still in the womb, a place designed to nourish and protect.

Isn't it possible that women who find themselves in the stressful situation of being "unexpectedly" pregnant may actually, given sufficient time, become used to the idea and if given appropriate help welcome the birth of their children? Hospitals should be places of healing not places to deliberately end life.

STELLA McLEOD
Rotorua

Beneficiaries lucky

My heart bleeds for your correspondent G. Bryant (Letters, February 22), who describes his pension as a "tiddly pittance".

If he lived in Indonesia, where benefits are non existent, he would have cause for complaint. If you have no job, and are unable to be cared for by your wider family, you simply die.

Does he drive a car? This might be part of his problem. Does he know that thanks to Winston's Gold Card, he can travel free on public transport from 9am to 3pm daily, and all day in the weekends? Moreover, he can receive a free cup of coffee at Maccas!

So count your blessings, Mr Bryant.

JACKIE EVANS
Rotorua

I read in "Street View" (Rotorua Daily Post, February 23) where one person commented that one "weakness" in Rotorua, is that kids go to school shoeless.

Kids in New Zealand have been going to school with no shoes on their feet for generations!

In some cases maybe they can't afford them sure, but in my opinion, it's a Kiwi thing!Kids (and adults) in this beautiful country love to go places barefoot.

Some people and a lot of tourists, new citizens etc probably are looking at this thinking "oh too poor to own shoes" but once again it's more likely to be the Kiwi in the kids..."if I don't wear them, I won't lose them!"

VIV RADLEY
Rotorua