Sir, - I am a Labour Party member, and as a branch delegate to conference I voted for abortion facilities to be made available in Ireland.
My main reason for doing this is because I support the concept of bodily integrity for all of us, men and women. Aside from all the arguments most of us are familiar with, I think that no woman or girl in this country should go through a pregnancy that she would end if she were living elsewhere. I also think that a person who wants a termination in the early weeks of pregnancy should be able to obtain it without having to give reasons for doing so.
We all know that most abortions take place for social reasons, but some don't. I wouldn't have great confidence in a Medical Council that puts forward terms like "direct" and "indirect" actions. Surely these terms have no place in modern medical practice anywhere.
Are pregnant cancer patients in Ireland being given the same treatment as those everywhere else? Our rights and choices as patients should be exactly the same as any other citizens of the European Union, but are they? Why is suicide been removed as a reason for abortion? RT╔ seems to trot out the same old faces from the pro-life organisation on every programme. They are not medically qualified for the most part, but are allowed to get away with misleading statements.
Irish women are not biologically different from other women, so why are doctors from other countries never interviewed? Finally, as a parent of an autistic child, I condemn the Government's proposal for a referendum. The contrast between its treatment of Kathryn Synnott (and by extension all of us parents of children with disabilities) in the courts and the capitulation to the pro-life movement is absolutely sickening, and I hope its opportunism will be seen for what it is at the next election. - Yours, etc.,
Angela Timlin, Tivoli Parade, D·n Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
