Sir, - Cornelius O'Leary (September 29th) says: "I know that Joe Foyle does not desire legalised abortion in Ireland." He knows wrongly. Like Archbishop Connell, I am against legalised unnecessary abortion and for legalised necessary abortion. I have explained that many times in articles and letters.
As already pointed out, my purpose is to free Catholics of semantics in this matter, so that they focus instead on reversing our Catholic free-fall, which is the prime cause of our 100 or so unnecessary abortions a week in UK clinics. That means being free of the medical semantics which distracts Prof O'Leary, Irish Catholic and Irish Family writers and most Irish anti-abortionists. Those semantics arise from some Irish medics not wishing to have what they do about 10 times a week described as abortions, so they get their professional council to define abortion to exclude what they do.
Does any other medical council define abortion as our Irish one does? It was significant that a June 20th Northern Ireland Assembly debater said, without being contradicted: "Abortion may be required to save the life of a mother ... the law in Northern Ireland currently allows abortion in those situations." - Yours, etc.,
Joe Foyle, Sandford Road, Dublin 6.