Madam, - In most human pregnancies at least three people are involved - a father, a mother and a foetus/infant. The "pro-choice" lobby recognises only one right - that of the woman to choose any pregnancy option, and often abortion.
Fathers, even when legally married have, in the "pro-choice" scenario, few if any rights. The foetus is afforded no rights whatever.
The acceptance of women's right to choose is predicated on the denial of rights, or choice, to the two other people involved. Surely a case for consideration by the Equality Authority, Prof Bacik? - Yours, etc,
DENIS GILL, Tivoli Close, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Madam, - In my experience young parents who suffer a miscarriage do not speak of the loss of their "foetus" of two, three, four or more months' gestation. They will tell you they have lost their "baby" - and with the loss of him or her, the loss of all the future promise of his young life. They are expressing the clearly evident truth of the humanity of their unborn child.
All of us who write to you, and you yourself, started out as unborn babies. We enjoyed protection before and after birth, as our very survival shows.
Breda O'Brien, in her excellent article of August 13th, says: "A truly pro-choice movement would be working to ensure that a woman never had to feel that she had no better choice than to terminate the life of her own child".
Wouldn't it be wonderful if pro-choice inevitably meant pro-life. And that we ensured that supports were there to make unthinkable the loss of anyone's very existence among us? - Yours, etc,
PATRICIA FAGAN, Offington Avenue, Sutton, Dublin 13.
Madam, - Bishop Pat Buckley (August 6th) correctly comments that "the unborn baby's right to life is morally superior to the women's right to bodily integrity". But why?
There is a natural hierarchy of human rights. Some are more important than others. The right to life is by far the most fundamental for without it, all other rights are rendered redundant. This seems self-evident. - Yours, etc,
JA BARNWELL, St Patrick's Road, Dublin 9.