Madam, - I read with sadness of the case being taken to the European Court of Human Rights against Ireland by three Irishwomen for the State's failure to allow their pregnancies to be terminated in this State (The Irish Times, August 8th).
Of course I fully support the right of those women to take this case and I fully support the rights of the two organisations, the Irish Family Planning Association and Safe and Legal in Ireland, to support these women in their case.
Whether or not there should be legal abortion in Ireland is primarily a decision for the Irish electorate and the wishes of the fully consulted majority should be reflected in our laws and practices.
As a human being and as a Christian I could never support or vote for abortion on demand and in those very rare cases where I could see myself countenancing abortion I would be countenancing not a good, but a lesser of two evils - as in those rare cases where there is a choice between the life of a mother and the life of a child or in case of a mentally ill or disabled person who has been abused or raped.
I am greatly troubled by the increasingly unchallenged politically correct belief that the woman has an absolute right over her own body and everything to do with it. The right to life is about as absolute as rights get and I believe that the innocent and unborn baby's right to life is a morally superior right to the woman's right to "bodily integrity".
Leaving religion out of it completely, I am very glad that Ireland does not have abortion on demand and I think that any change in that situation should be dictated by the wishes of the Irish electorate and not by any court - domestic, European or international. - Yours etc,
Bishop PAT BUCKLEY,
The Oratory Society,
Larne,
Co Antrim.
Madam, - Breda O'Brien (Opinion, August 13th) declares that "choice" is the language of shopping, not morality. If her freedom to make a moral choice was rescinded, would she still feel the same? - Yours, etc,
DAVID O'BRIEN,
Portmarnock,
Co Dublin.