Sir, - Father Oliver Rafferty (News Features, March 9th) points out that Dana adhered to the teaching she had received in her youth when she opted to defend human life from conception to natural death.
The compromise deal negotiated with the Government by the Pro-Life Campaign under William Binchy, which failed to protect the child embryo prior to implantation, could not therefore be accepted by her.
The current religious education programme, "Alive-O", does not teach Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall, Original Sin, the Trinity and Angels, and is effectively apostatising the children out of the faith. Preaching and teaching on the basics have all but disappeared over the past 30 years.
I agree with Father Rafferty that there is an urgent need to make the message of the Gospel accessible to the people. I pray that the bishops will make this their number one priority at their current meeting in Maynooth.
We urgently need more people with the courage and integrity of Dana to represent us in public life. - Yours, etc.,
Mrs LOUISE O'ROURKE,
Tullacullion,
Donegal Town.
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Sir, - More contraception, better sex education. . .that's the way to reduce the abortion rate. Or is it?
I remember, as a callow young immigrant in London, sneering at the screen as the late Cardinal Heenan warned in a TV debate that "a contraceptive mentality leads to an abortion mentality."
Then in 1981, Dr Judith Bury of the Brook Advisory Centres wrote that "as women become more conscious of preventing conception, so they come to request terminations when contraception fails."
She added: "There is overwhelming evidence that, contrary to what you might expect, the availability of contraception leads to an increase in the abortion rate."
More recently, Ann Furedi, who works for a British private abortion provider, has said: "Lots of women are using abortion as a back-up to contraception."
One third of British women under the age of 45 have had an abortion. - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN BYRNE,
Ardlea Road,
Dublin 5.
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Sir, - I am one of the many young Europeans benefiting from the good job opportunities in Ireland these days. As a non-national, and therefore an external observer, I followed the referendum campaign with interest. I tried to understand the legal and medical implications of a Yes and a No vote, and I am not sure that I reached full understanding.
But one thing that is clear to me is that the majority of the Irish population remains pro-life. It seems like simple mathematics: 49 per cent voted Yes (a pro-life vote); 8 to 10 per cent of No votes seem to be from pro-life groups; and I would guess that many pro-life people did not vote at all because they were not able to decide between the two pro-life options (perhaps another 5-10 per cent of the electorate); so that seems to add to at least 62 per cent of the electorate being pro-life. Which really means that the Irish Government would be acting against the will of the Irish people if it introduced abortion by means of legislation as it is being discussed in the papers.
That is precisely what happened in Spain in 1982: despite popular outrage (all polls indicated the majority of Spaniards were pro-life), the newly elected government of Felipe Gonzalez legislated in favour of abortion in extreme cases of rape and malformation of the foetus. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for abortion to become general medical practice in "Catholic" Spain. I hope that current and future Irish governments will be more democratic and accept the will of the majority. - Yours, etc.,
LUISON LASSALA,
Dartry Road,
Dublin 6.