Ian Parsley’s letter (Writeback, October 14) is a genuine attempt to encourage a civil debate on the difficult matter of abortion. Unfortunately aspects of the letter fail to do this.

I fully accept that, too often, civility has not been a characteristic of those of us with pro-life convictions. That said, to suggest that any elected representative with pro-life views exists in a “moral ivory tower” fails to give due respect to political leaders and others who, after careful reflection, believe that it is right and just for legal protection to be given to unborn children.

Mr Parsley also suggests that the current legal position in Northern Ireland “does not stop abortions happening”. The current legal position does allow terminations of pregnancy in some quite specific circumstances. However, it is factually incorrect to suggest that Northern Ireland’s law does not have a significant impact on the numbers of abortions in Northern Ireland. Even when the approximately 1,300 women from Northern Ireland who travel to GB each year are added to the relatively few abortions lawfully performed in Northern Ireland, this falls massively short of the very sobering figure of 198,500 abortions performed in England and Wales each year.

Ian Parsley states that restricting access to abortion “is a breach of human dignity”. And that gets to the heart of the debate — our understanding of human dignity. Ian and I will agree that respect for human dignity should be fundamental to politics and society. Where we disagree is over whether or not human dignity embraces the unborn child. I believe it does and that my duties and obligations in society require me to respect that dignity. Our disagreement is genuine and sincere, but it can be civil — and it does not mean that either of us lives in a “moral ivory tower”.

BRIAN CROWE

Lisburn