Sir, – We write to support the hundreds of women a year who experience fatal foetal abnormalities in their pregnancy. We write also to express our respect for the support group Terminations For Medical Reasons and its efforts to secure wider access to abortion services in Ireland. The case of Amanda Mellet, who was refused access to an abortion in Ireland for a fatal foetal abnormality, and the hundreds of women who share that experience every year, is a cause of frustration and shame for the medical profession in Ireland, in that we are powerless to assist a woman undergoing “cruel and inhuman treatment” in the Irish health service, according to the United Nations, because of restrictive laws which lack popular support and are without a medical evidence base.
It is repeatedly stated by anti-choice commentators that the term "fatal foetal abnormality" is not a medical term. Many of the terms used in the debate on access to abortion, such as "unborn child", are not medical terms. However, in the case of "fatal foetal abnormality", the 2010 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists report Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Abnormality, repeatedly uses the adjectives "fatal" and "lethal" with regard to foetal abnormality. It is therefore not accurate to insist that "fatal foetal abnormality" is not a medical term as this language is clearly used by medical professionals with expertise in this precise area of medical practice. This attempt to undermine the medical legitimacy of what is already a heartbreaking experience is causing hurt and distress and should stop.
The distinction between fatal and non-fatal conditions is often certainly a matter of medical opinion as is generally the case for medical predictions. However, some conditions, such as anencephaly, are described in the report as “obviously fatal” by the college while in general it advocates a case by case approach for judgments on foetal abnormality and the decision to terminate a pregnancy.
Doctors For Choice continues to support the view that the only person it is safe to have the final decision, on whether or not to terminate a pregnancy with an abortion, is the woman who is pregnant. A pedantic or legalistic approach to terminology in this debate is not helpful in our view, and abortion services should be properly dealt with like any other health service and follow the same ethical and legal requirements. We know of no medical requirement for special laws to regulate abortion, and we feel special, restrictive laws have only lead to the cruel and inhuman treatment of women that we have seen so far. It is time to repeal the Eighth Amendment by putting it to a referendum and then to repeal all special, restrictive laws to allow regulation of abortion be part of the regulation of all other health services and, in general, to trust women to be able to decide what is in their best interests in their particular circumstances. – Yours, etc,
PEADAR O’GRADY,
MAEVE FERRITER,
TIERNAN MURRAY,
Doctors For Choice,
Dublin.
Sir, – The demands for Ministers to vote in accordance with the Government decision rather than their consciences illustrates how the “new politics” is subject to old thinking. As long as this continues, there will be no real change. – Yours, etc,
Dr RICHARD SCRIVEN,
Ballinlough, Cork.