Madam, - It was a great joy to read your report of Ireland's first in-utero surgery ( The Irish Times, July 30th). Warmest congratulations to all concerned.
In the circumstances, it seems churlish to complain of journalistic inconsistency. However, I was struck by your reporter referring throughout to "twin boys" and "babies". I was delighted to read this, but it was in sharp contrast to the usual terminology of your journalists when pro-choice versus pro-life controversies are covered. When advocating a mother's right to terminate, the term used, almost invariably, is "foetus".
I am not trying to be smart here, or judgmental. It just seems that so many journalists, and some health professionals, are confused, if not actually in denial, on these issues. How can it make sense that some medical resources are devoted to achieving wonderful results, such as that reported here, while simultaneously other medical resources are devoted to achieving the precise opposite?
And how can comment on these matters, in the same newspaper, vary from celebration of new life to depersonalising (or even refusing rights to) new life? - Yours, etc,
JIM STACK, Moneygorm, Lismore, Co Waterford.