Sir, - Nothing illustrates more clearly the gulf between the pro-and anti-abortion groups in Ireland than the sentence in Medb Ruane's article (Opinion, September 10th) referring to "the scandalously high rates of late abortions".
Since Ms Ruane openly advocates legalised abortion in Ireland, in spite of the constitutional prohibition of 1983, it is plain that for her the scandal lies in the delay that women travelling to England encounter instead of having the abortion performed in Ireland. But to others there is another source of scandal. At a late stage in pregnancy the unborn is fully formed, and unless impeded can emerge into the world like any other. The fact that such lives are terminated is for many utterly repugnant.
When the 1967 British Act was going through Parliament, the debates made it clear that the Act was to deal with exceptional situations, but subsequently both legislative and judicial action extended it to virtual abortion on demand. In 1998 there were 635.9 thousand live births in England and Wales, and 187.4 thousand abortions, a rate of 29 per cent.
What civilised people would wish to emulate such a record? Certainly not Ms Ruane's fellow Northerners, who recently in the Assembly summarily rejected the extension of the 1967 Act to Northern Ireland. - Yours, etc.,
Cornelius O'Leary, Emeritus Professor, Department of Politics, Queen's University, Belfast 7.