If you decide to become a midwife you do so because you want to assist mothers in bringing new life into the world. The reason you become a midwife is not to end life, but that's what midwives are expected to do. 

Mary Doogan has delivered around 5,000 babies in a career that lasted three decades. She was devoted to her job. She described it as a vocation. She is also a devout Catholic, therefore she is opposed to abortion. But you don't have to be a Catholic to hold that position. As Mary rightly points out, you could be a Jew or an atheist and still oppose abortion. As long as people are not forcing their views on others, everyone in a free society should respect the views of others and not force them to do something which in all conscience they cannot do. 

The following is a guest post Dr. Timothy Tomkinson. 

Last month, Ealing Borough Council took the step of using Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) to prevent anti-abortion protesters near abortion clinics. Since then, there have been calls by MPs and organisations such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), to deploy these PSPOs across other areas of the country.

There are three points here, relevant to people who have no strong views on the topic of abortion itself. Firstly, the right to protest; secondly, truly providing a choice and; thirdly, the government funding for a monopoly which generates great revenue for private interests.

The following is a guest post by the Rev Dr Peter Mullen, Hon. Chaplain of The Freedom Association. 

As we all know, we have the great blessing of comprehensive freedom of speech in this country – but not if you wish to protest peacefully about mass murder.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has said he favours the banning of pro-life vigils outside abortion clinics. 113 MPs agree with him and they aim to set up “buffer zones” outside the clinics to prevent these protests. Already, two local authorities in England – Ealing and Portsmouth - have voted to ban these vigils by using public space protection orders (PSPO), which allow local authorities to criminalise behaviour not normally considered criminal.