Madam, – Minister for Health Mary Harney (“Warning on biased crisis pregnancy ‘counselling’,” July 21st) voiced her support for the Crisis Pregnancy Agency’s latest advertising initiative which targets supposedly rogue crisis pregnancy counsellors. Announcing the campaign, the Minister for Health focused exclusively on “rogue” agencies opposed to abortion.
I wholeheartedly agree that pregnancy counselling services should not engage in rogue practices or disseminate bogus information. However, the Minister decision to target only counselling groups opposed to abortion indicates an unacceptable bias.
We need a responsible debate on what constitutes best practice in pregnancy counselling – not ad hominem attacks which create an impression the problem is exclusively a pro-life one.
Using taxpayers’ money to demonise and caricature the entire pro-life movement is certainly not an appropriate way for a government to behave. If Ms Harney wishes to adopt a balanced approach she should also express concern about how “pro-choice” counselling agencies refuse to make women aware of the latest peer-reviewed studies showing the negative long-term psychological consequences of abortion.
In a recent interview (on Today with Pat Kenny, edited extracts of which were published in The Irish Times,July 18th), the woman who had been at the centre of the C case indicated that she hadn't understood what was happening when she went with social workers to have an abortion in England. She subsequently regretted her abortion, but the behaviour of health care professionals involved in the case has never been questioned. It would be fitting if the Minister for Health devoted some time to investigating this matter. – Yours, etc,