Sir, – Ivana Bacik (Opinion & Analysis, February 6th) and others lament the lack of legislation allowing abortions to be carried out in Ireland. They are missing the point, however, when they bemoan “cowardly” politicians for “failing” to introduce such legislation.
In the 20 years since the X case, we’ve certainly had senior members of government who were committed to introducing abortion. What stymied such proposals was the backlash from the electorate. In other words, Irish politicians have repeatedly got the message loud and clear: the people don’t want abortion legalised in Ireland. Hard as it may be for abortion campaigners to accept, this is how a democracy works. – Yours, etc,