Sir, – The two principal parties involved in every abortion scenario are the developing baby and the pregnant mother and every abortion is completed by killing the developing baby. One doesn't have to be a moral philosopher to see that there is an ethical tension here between the mother's wish to resolve the stress of an unwanted pregnancy by abortion and the defenceless developing baby's right to continue to live. But, amazingly, Una Mullally's article advocating the introduction of a UK-style abortion regime in Ireland ("Time to call out Fine Gael's shirking on abortion", Opinion & Analysis, December 7th) makes no mention at all of the ethical implications of killing the developing baby.
Una Mullally says that the term “abortion on demand”, often used in pro-life arguments, is meaningless. Let me try to give meaning to the phrase by quoting some statistics on abortion. A total of 21 per cent of conceptions in the UK are aborted and this figure is close to 30 per cent in western Europe generally. Figures are higher again in eastern Europe. Some 37 per cent of women in the UK having abortions in 2013 had one or more abortions before. And these statistics come from countries where contraception and education about safe sex are universally available and advocated. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM REVILLE,
Waterfall,
Co Cork.
Sir, – Una Mullally, in her attitude to those of us who oppose abortion, brings to mind the great lady in Goldsmith’s story of the travelling player. She intends to be displeased, and displeased she will be. Genuine concern for both mother and child will, in her book, always constitute patronising and self-righteous behaviour.
Thus, no matter how Senator Paul Bradford tries to point out that not all cases termed “fatal foetal abnormalities” are actually fatal, we can take it that Una Mullally will be displeased. While she takes particular exception to the phrase “abortion on demand”, she will be displeased, I suspect, with any attempt, by anyone, to point out what has happened in Britain. She will be displeased (and she is being ridiculous here, because our media outlets are already utterly biased in favour of her position) with any reporting of pro-life views that is not accompanied by some sort of secular inquisition. – Yours, etc,
JIM STACK,
Lismore,
Co Waterford.