Madam, - As a parent I am concerned and disappointed by the comments from Mary Harney, Tánaiste and Minister for Health, at the launch of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency's annual report (The Irish Times, July 27th).
For our Minister for Health to even think of approving the use of the morning-after pill for 11-year-olds under any circumstance is an abhorrence.
She is sending a message to children that it's OK to have unprotected sex at 11 because the morning-after pill will be made available. She is potentially creating a huge moral dilemma for parents, guardians, doctors and other healthcare workers.
In an era when children are led to think it is all right to have sex very young, why does the Minister not rise above the tide and promote a message of chastity and abstinence? Has she thought of the long-term consequences of promoting unprotected sex and will she now set aside the funding she will need to treat the sexually transmitted diseases that are already increasing alarmingly?
As a taxpayer I urge the Minister to think like a parent and look at the 11-year-olds she may know. An 11-year-old cannot possibly be aware of the future emotional and physical consequences of what he or she is doing at such a young age.
Minister, do the job we pay you to do: protect the health and well-being of people in the State, especially the young and vulnerable. - Yours, etc,
Mrs BREDA TOBIN,
Newbridge,
Co Kildare.
Madam, - I was surprised to read n your paper that the Tánaiste and Minister for Health should advocate giving the morning-after pill in certain circumstances. This pill is an abortifacient, as it prevents the fertilised egg (the blastocyst) from embedding in the womb.
If abortion is illegal in this country, surely that applies to chemical abortion also. The time has come when the reason why teenagers are engaged in sexual activity should be addressed. - Yours, etc,
MIRIAM DUGGAN FRCOG,
Gilford Road,
Dublin 4.