Sir, – In the article “Compassion’s role in voting on Eighth Amendment” (Opinion, May 5th), Breda O’Brien warns of the danger of giving responsibility for abortion to the HSE. I wonder if she feels it more appropriate to continue entrusting it to the NHS? – Yours, etc,
Dr DEARBHLA DOHERTY,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Breda O’Brien (Opinion, May 5th) poses an important question and an implicit challenge to people of good will on the Repeal side: “Why do people who are pro-choice believe that compassion for the newer human cannot co-exist with compassion for the older human?”
There is a tragic irony at the heart of calls by Repealers for greater “compassion” toward pregnant women: the scope of their compassion is so narrow and selective that the care they extend to pregnant women exists side-by-side with total blindness to the humanity of the unborn children whose lives will be cruelly ended under cover of law if the Eighth Amendment is removed. – Yours, etc,
DAVID THUNDER,
Dublin 5.
Sir, – I note that self-identified republicans, including Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín, have formed a group called “Cherish all the Children Equally” to campaign against the repeal of the Eighth Amendment.
It should be pointed out that the reference in the 1916 Proclamation to “all the children” was intended to refer to people of all faiths – not the born and unborn, as this group’s name implies.
It’s disappointing to see this wilful misappropriation of part of the Proclamation. – Yours, etc,
GARY BARRETT,
St Sauveur le Vicomte,
France.
Sir, – The ACP (Association of Catholic Priests) criticises calls at Mass for the retention of the Eighth Amendment (Home News, May 5th).
The ACP says it “endorses Catholic teaching that human life from beginning to end is sacred”, but denounces expression of that teaching at Mass. As the pragmatist philosophers would say, a moral principle upon which one will never act is a principle one does not really hold. Catholic moral teaching is a call to action, not idle talk.
Irish Catholic priests once denounced IRA violence and terror, Archbishop Romero and other priests denounced the Central American death squads, German clergy denounced the Nazis’ forced euthanasia programme, and Italian priests denounced the Mafia.
It seems the ACP would view such speech as (in their words) not “sensitive, non-judgmental, and pastoral”.
The issue in the referendum is not the complexities of statute legislation but the basic principles of Irish society. The repeal movement’s twin goals are to make abortion available without restriction, and to state that Ireland’s social contract no longer recognises unborn human beings as moral and legal persons. No moral ambiguity there.
The Christian churches have no moral choice but to oppose that agenda, strongly and unequivocally. Failure to do so would be a final capitulation to the “cultured despisers of religion”, and the ultimate betrayal of the Christian gospel of justice for the oppressed and the voiceless. – Yours, etc,
Fr SÉAMUS MURPHY SJ,
Associate Professor of
Philosophy,
Loyola University Chicago,
Chicago,
Illinois.
Sir, – Ireland has been my home of 20 years and although I am not an Irish citizen, I am campaigning to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
When we moved to Ireland, I knew that abortion was not available here, but had not appreciated all the unintended consequences on how little control women have of their own health the minute they become pregnant.
Then I became pregnant myself, had a diagnosis of potential foetal abnormalities and my request to discuss the finding and investigate further was treated with negativity and contempt.
I realised, first hand, that I would have no meaningful support in Ireland. I recall thinking “I am in the wilderness here”. Fortunately, my baby was okay, and she is now an intelligent teenager who is also campaigning for repeal.
I find it horrendous that the Constitution treats the life of a grown woman as equally important to the life of a fertilised egg, which is only ever a potential one.
Maintaining the Eighth tells women that they are not and will never be treated as individuals with full rights, and I strongly believe that the people of my adopted country are better than that.
My story is a small one with a happy ending; women who have been forced to carry a baby who will die inside them have not been so fortunate. – Yours, etc,
Dr CHRYSSA DISLIS,
Cork.
Sir, – As a practising clinician with several years’ experience working with victims of sexual assault who subsequently became pregnant, my experience has been that none of the women I cared for – despite their horrendous ordeal – harboured regrets of carrying their babies to term.
In fact, many of these women have told me that terminating their pregnancy would have been another violation that they would have had to endure.
They felt that the baby they were carrying was a vulnerable, innocent who deserved life. Life in every case is always precious – from the moment of conception to the last breath we take.
The Eighth Amendment has saved thousands of Irish lives to date and will save thousands more if we retain it. Let’s not lose the soul of our nation on May 25th by removing the fundamental right to life of the unborn. – Yours, etc,
Dr AISLING BASTIBLE,
Dublin 3.