Madam, - Owen Corrigan (May 26th) suggests that I and my "ilk should be transported back to the Ireland of 50 years ago".
Fifty years ago a scan which can show three-dimensional images of the baby in the womb and trace the development of a human being from the instant of ejaculation to the moment of birth was not available. Nor was it known that the first beat of the heart begins at 22 days. As John Waters wrote in your edition of April 11th, "while the foetus remained an abstract blob in a jerky monochrome image, it was easier to decide that it was in a different ethical category to a viable human being".
Fifty years ago the supports supplied by Cura and Life were not available. Nowadays every support is given in a crisis pregnancy, including accommodation. Fifty years ago we were not supposed to be the compassionate people that we claim to be today.
Mr Corrigan mentions that a crisis pregnancy "often destroys lives". It certainly does when it leads to the destruction of a baby in the womb.
I do not accept that I misrepresented the CPA's promotion of abortion. How else do you describe the funding of agencies that do so? Mr Corrigan may be interested to know that it is the organisations which promote abortion that give "incomplete, biased information" when they omit to give full information regarding abortion.
Finally, I do not consider "bickering over the finer points of the CPA's original mandate" adequately describes the misrepresentation of their role in reducing the numbers settling for abortion. - Yours, etc,
Mrs MARY STEWART, Donegal Town.