As Methodists, with our strong tradition of social action, justice and the preaching of the gospel, we bear no small responsibility in the urgent task in upholding the sanctity of all human life, however small and weak, and declaring our opposition to the abortion mentality which pervades the thinking of our time. We stand on the sure foundation of scripture in this task. Human life is 'made in the image of God' which we are expressly commanded not to kill in the Ten Commandments. The psalmist writes of him being 'knit together in my mother's womb' (Psalm 139). The prophets see their calling as 'from the womb' (Jeremiah 1). The incarnation confirms the Biblical teaching of the unborn child with Christ being conceived as the incarnate son of God which was undoubtedly the beginning of His earthly existence. It was the unborn John the Baptist who, by leaping for joy in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, first heralded the coming into the world of the Messiah even though the infant Jesus cannot have been more than a tiny embryo. Coupled with the Biblical teaching on the sanctity of human life is the strong scriptural injunction to 'love your neighbour' and to be 'salt and light', that prompts Christians into action on the great social problems of the day. It is the same abhorrence at the denial of justice and equality I see for the coloured people of South Africa that urges me to speak out for the right to life and equal opportunity for the unborn child. The Christian Community has before it a tremendous responsibility and a great opportunity with David Alton's Bill to halt late abortions. I hope that Methodists will play their part by writing to and lobbying their MPs at the House of Commons ... to vote in favour of the Bill ... It's a chance that we cannot afford to miss.
The initial problems with newspapers reappeared on the television channels. At the beginning of the campaign the TV panel programmes were little more than a calculated set-up. After appearing several times with a pro-abortion doctor or a member of a pro-abortion organisation it was clear that there would be little chance of constructive debate. Subsequently we offered pro-life doctors against proabortion doctors and I concentrated on one-to-one interviews where the issues could be properly explored. The idea of an interview simply degenerating into a slanging match, or providing myself as a punch-bag for interviewers anxious to exorcise their own hang-ups or hurts does not appeal to me. My TVAM interview with Ann Diamond was perhaps the most unpleasant, but judging by the viewer reactions her rudeness did her more damage than it did me. The key was never to let them provoke you into over-reaction. In attacking the man rather than the argument they lost their case. The BBC was no better in covering up the grisly facts surrounding late abortion. I repeatedly asked the BBC to show our video The Eclipse of Reason. It shows