Madam, - Dr Conor Carr (August 12th) blames the "rigid teachings of the Catholic Church", rather than the obstetricians, for the barbarous symphysiotomy operations carried out from the 1950s to the 1980s. Dr Carr has a valid point, but he goes too far.
John XXIII was Pope from 1958 to 1963 and his liberalising effect would have been felt in the 1970s and 1980s. The obstetricians in our society are an élite, upper-middle-class group and they should have been in the van of the movement for change. They must share the blame for this awful business. - Yours, etc.,
TOM WILLIAMS, Goldenbridge Avenue, Dublin 8.