Sir, - I am a former nurse who trained in England in the early 1970s and am currently working as a psychotherapist in this country. I would like to voice my concern about the invasion of the privacy of the young girl at the centre of the current controversy arising out of our collective moral cowardice.
Making abortion illegal has never stopped it in the past and will not do so in the future. I credit the members of the antiabortion lobby with enough intelligence to know that they will never "get rid of" abortion and would suggest that their only possibility of success is in preventing the availability of safe, legal abortions to those women or girls who feel they cannot continue with an unwanted pregnancy to the extent that they would rather die.
The fact that this State has failed to provide for the medical needs of at least 65,000 of its female citizens is nothing to be proud of. It is simply a continuation of the same Ireland that in the not too distant past forced many woman with crisis pregnancies either to go into exile, to have their babies adopted, or both. The same Ireland that, not so long ago, bowing to the dictates of supposedly celibate men, denied its citizens access to contraception, leaving many women who were until recently legally obliged to submit to the sexual demands of their husbands to cope with the difficulties of more pregnancies and children than they were physically, mentally or financially able for.
The assertion that the lack of abortion facilities is a measure of a superior level of caring within the Irish health-care system is unsubstantiated arrogance and an insult to those who look after Irish citizens when their own country turns its back in self-righteousness.
I know personally of no one who considers abortion to be a good thing, neither women who have had abortion nor those who have supported or helped. As a professional I am aware that where there is access to confidential non-directive pregnancy counselling there is less likelihood of panic decisions which are later regretted.
The sinister tactics currently being employed by certain elements within the so called pro-life lobby will simply contribute to the panic experienced by women or girls with a crisis pregnancy. I believe that they will contribute to more women taking the option of abortion than might be the case if they were given the privacy and time to consider their options in a non-judgmental environment. They do nothing to alleviate the plight of any young girl forced into the position of having to make adult decisions as a result of the illegal actions of the men who cause the pregnancies. It is in the interest of all to work towards the reduction of both unwanted pregnancies and the need for abortion. Absolutist positions contribute to the problem and not to the solution, judging by the ever-increasing numbers of Irish abortions carried out in British clinics.
As for those who, through the denial of privacy and the use of coercive means, attempt to influence the parents of child in such a position: do you really believe your behaviour will win others to your cause?
Caring, post-feminist Ireland? Perhaps it seems so to those in positions of power, influence and wealth. - Yours, etc., Mairead Ryan,
Ship Street, Dublin 8.