Tom Shields on a difficult debate

THERE is little middle ground in the abortion debate, re-ignited by the latest statistics that show a record number of 13,703 terminations in Scotland last year. But, like many people, I find myself in a no man's land: appalled by the concept of abortion but unqualified as a male to question a woman's right to choose.

In one corner we have the religious lobbies, pro-life regardless of the effects of an unwanted pregnancy on the life of the mother. In the other, the pro-choice groups who advocate foeticide regardless of the rights of the unborn infant.

Being slightly qualified to talk about the Catholic Church, I will start with its input into the discussion. This is a church that denies young people any effective advice on contraception and that not long ago was consigning pregnant girls to the cruel regimes of Magdalene-style workhouses.

The Catholic Church is more caring and proactive these days. There is practical and financial help through the ProLife Initiative.

There is counselling available. But if you phone the helpline you may well be told to speak after the high moral tone.

In a letter to the Herald last week, Archbishop Mario Conti said: "Sex is not simply a recreational activity." Sex may not be a recreation for archbishops of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Roman church, but it is an avid pursuit of most of the rest of the population. Which is why so many young women find themselves unexpectedly expectant.

Archbishop Conti says his church is not against sex education and has its own programme in schools. It is entitled Called to Love.

So, what does Called to Love say about the nitty-gritty issue of "how far can I go with my girlfriend/boyfriend?" The answer is simple: "If what you are doing is getting you or your partner sexually aroused then you have gone too far."

This is undoubtedly sound advice, in the tradition of the Catholic Truth Society pamphlets doled out in schools when I was a boy. But it is unreliable as a method of avoiding pregnancy.

It is difficult to accept the Catholic Church's views while it maintains a policy of zero tolerance on abortion, even in cases involving rape, incest, threat to the mother's well-being and foetal abnormality.

On the other extreme there is the Abortion Rights group, which is not so much pro-choice as promoting of terminating life in the womb even late into pregnancy.

When does foeticide become infanticide? Certainly at 24 weeks, when modern medical technology could give a baby life instead of being killed or left to die.

Abortion Rights points out that only 1% of abortions are carried out after 22 weeks. That is still a lot of dead babies.

They say most abortions are carried out before 12 weeks. At 12 weeks, the foetus has already become a little person, almost fully formed with strong heartbeat, fingernails, eyelids, and the capacity to suck a thumb.

It is a woman's choice but what a terrible choice to dispose of such a life. Especially if it is done as an alternative to pursuing adequate contraception.

If termination is to be done, it should be done quickly. The morning-after pill is a suitable option and should be readily available.

Failing that, there should be early diagnosis, early independent counselling, and no obstruction of the process by doctors who would impose their beliefs on the patient.

The Abortion Rights campaign says there is little evidence that getting rid of a baby leads to depression. But many women who made that choice must wonder about the lost soul.

Women who considered abortion but went ahead with the birth will testify to the sentiment that a child may have been a wee unsought for but will never be unwrought for.

Rabbie Burns wrote those words in A Poet's Welcome To His Love-Begotten Daughter. But then Rabbie was a man and though he was called to love many times, he wasn't too efficient at contraception.

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WE should not be surprised that Gordon Brown is in the habit of phoning people who send him letters and emails of complaint to discuss their concerns. We should not be surprised that Gordon actually cold-called a member of the public at 6am to have a chat.

Hey, it's not as if the guy's a workaholic or a control freak or anything. It's just that he is a good listener.

Brown's two dozen or so calls a week have been described by magazine PR Week as a ploy by his new chief of strategy Stephen Carter to encourage some word-of-mouth brownie points to make him seem a caring kind of guy.

Brown's people deny this, saying that he has been in telephonic communication with Joseph Public since he first became chancellor.

Despite the number of complaints I have lodged in this column of late, Gordon has never phoned. If he did, I would advise him to chill out and take more time off.

I would try to steer the conversation round to his beloved Raith Rovers, though that is a topic almost as grim as the world economy, since the Rovers lost out in the division two play-offs and are still down there with the likes of Peterhead and Cowdenbeath, to insult two clubs at random.

If you happen to get a phone call from the prime minister, please pass on a message from me. Just tell him it's not all his fault. It's not even Alistair Darling's fault.

I'm talking abut the price of petrol and diesel. Road hauliers, farmers, fishermen, and God knows who else have been on his back. In response, the PM has spent much of the week talking to oil folk about prices.

He has also been arranging to get more of Scotland's oil out of the North Sea, which I am not happy about since we will need it come independence day. There is not a lot Gordon or Alistair can do about the price of oil. The price is high because of a backward sloping demand curve. It's also high because of the flight from currency.

I know this because George Soros says so. Soros should know because he is the world's best known arbitrageur, hedge-funder, and general manipulator of markets for profit.

It was Soros who made a billion bucks from the Bank of England on Black Wednesday way back in 1992 by selling sterling short. (That's a technical term, not a criticism.) The people who buy and sell oil have decided to get the price high and keep it high. These people include your pension fund and mine, so what we have here is a double-edged sword.

The oil producers are happy. Why sell at $50 a barrel when you can get $150? The oil companies are happy with £1.25 a litre for diesel rather than £1.05 as it was a month or so ago. It's called market forces.

There is something we can do. A bloke who knows about this stuff says the market will regulate itself. If we don't buy the stuff, the price will come down.

The same applies to the current high cost of food. Walk more, eat less. The speculators will be brought to heel. Maybe.

There is one thing that Gordon could do for me. Or, more likely, Alex Salmond, since it is a devolved matter.

I have been in bus pass heaven since I turned 60. But, on attempting to board the Stagecoach X77 in Ayr at 10 minutes past midnight last weekend, I was told I had to pay £7.The concession does not apply in the wee hours of the morning. This is a scandal.

How is a Buffer supposed to get home from a Status Quo concert when free travel is denied?

Never mind the oil crisis. When will the government lift this iniquitous curfew on rock'n'roll pensioners?