Letter: Slavery and abortion

Sir: Alan Pavelin (letter, 30 January) refers to slavery as an issue in which the two sides had different beliefs. But most of the defenders of slavery and most of the advocates of abolition during the 18th and 19th centuries were equally Christians, and both sides drew most of their arguments from divine authority and scriptural quotation; virtually all known unbelievers were abolitionists, but their arguments carried little weight.

The issue of abortion is quite different.