Sir, – Rev Patrick G Burke (March 6th) would be advised to read the seminal case on the Eighth Amendment, Attorney General v X, before stating suicidal ideation "teeters at the very brink of what is allowable under the Eighth".
There, Chief Justice Finlay expressly held that the defendants had established “that there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother by self-destruction which can only be avoided by termination of her pregnancy”.
Furthermore, in relation to the enactment of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, Mr Justice McCarthy in the X case criticised the government for failing to enact appropriate legislation following the Amendment as “no longer just unfortunate; it is inexcusable”. That was in 1992. – Yours, etc,
AOIFE COLL,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4 .