MR HAN Ming Guang is right in that counselling for anyone contemplating abortion should be given from a "holistic point of view, to allow her to make an informed decision" ("Leave beliefs out of pre-abortion counselling"; yesterday).
However, an approach that is holistic cannot exclude religious and/or ethical beliefs.
There might be academic disciplines which insist that we can view life and its predicament from a values-free perspective, whatever those values might be.
In truth, no one can live life values-free. Religion or any ideology which may or may not have God in its equation is part of a counsellor's life and a counsellee's holistic make-up.
No one person should be allowed to cherry-pick one religion or ideology and exclude others, unless there is a consensus from people of faith and those with none, although any professional counsellor and doctor would have been trained not to impose his religion or ideology on a vulnerable patient.
In medical practice, ethics is of utmost importance. No one would want to be treated or advised by an unethical counsellor or doctor.
One essential component of widely accepted bio-ethical principles for people involved in medical studies is the ethical principle of informed consent.
Mr Han is correct to ask for informed decisions. But one cannot make an informed decision or give informed consent without ethical consideration from an ethical counsellor and doctor.
In any case, everyone has a set of ethics, whether one thinks deeply about it or not.
Daniel Koh Kah Soon
