A few months ago I wrote a column expressing the view that abortion is a childcare issue. Crisis pregnancy may be a crisis simply because the woman who is pregnant already has a child, and cannot afford childcare for a second. Or she is working and not yet a mother, but she is not earning enough money to pay for childcare for even one child, writes Kathryn Holmquist

Support for the column came from women on all sides of the abortion debate. People offering non-directive counselling confirmed that women in careers are considering abortion merely because they fear that their employers, and even husbands, will disapprove of their pregnancies. The Dublin Life group said that they too were meeting women with crisis pregnancies who saw the lack of affordable childcare as a major stumbling block.

Since the column was written, Dublin Life have set up a créche fund, specifically for women in crisis pregnancies who are considering abortion because they cannot afford childcare.

Pro-life employers should put their money where their mouths are and contribute to this fund, in my view. More importantly, employers on all sides of the debate should be genuinely pro-life by giving women the clear message that having a baby will not harm their prospects at work.

Employment is anti-life in many ways, expecting workers to give up quality of life and even the option of procreating. International studies show that when men have families, they earn more. When women have families, they earn less. We have to change this. Mothers are bread-winners - let's treat them like that. To be pro-women in the workplace is to support them in all ways - and that's pro-life.