Sir, - With regard to abortion, it is not the right to an opinion that matters, but how useful those opinions are. Abortion is a very sensitive issue touching on deep human concerns. In a climate of debate where aggression and fixed opinion are most common, few who have any real experience of abortion will speak. And without the testimony of those who have faced it, experienced it or performed it, opinions are not informed ones.
Abstractions about law and religion seem like wisps of cloud compared with the reality of an unwanted pregnancy. I can voice an opinion on many emotive topics but only when I understand the subject and speak with some humility will my views be valuable. - Yours, etc.,
Jane Hayterhames, Strand Road, Ballycotton, Co Cork.