Friday 23 May 2008

Last night

Last night I was engaged in a conversation about this week's votes on the Human Embryology Bill, and our discussion amounted to the following quandry: "to what extent should legislation be enacted to outlaw something, independent of its efficacy, and if only in order to prevent the pursuit of alternate agendas and outcomes?"

I find this a key question in my own worldview - how I view the role and rule of law reflects my own moral and ethical values, and the extent to which I believe they should be codified even in the light of others', differing, values.

The other underlying positions in our conversation were:

(1) When does human life begin?
(2) Is it possible to measure the value of one human life over another? If so, when, and how?

TelegraphOn these questions and their answers, hang the answers to the issues of this week, and many others. I think that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor is correct in today's Telegraph: the debate is only really beginning.

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