Sir, - The recent article concerning abortion by Mary Holland made tragic reading. Tragic because it was so negative. The answer to the problems that lead women to choose abortion is, it seems, to make abortion easier. All this would do is to compound the problem by pretending that dealing with the symptoms is dealing with the disease.
It is said again and again by those who advocate abortion that no woman wants one but that circumstances and society make it necessary. So the answer is surely to treat the problem: us. We - family, friends, society - treat women with unplanned pregnancies in such a way that they often feel that the only option is to prevent the baby being born, preferably before anyone else even knows about the pregnancy. Do we care so little for women that we consider it better for them to have abortions with attendant risks, physical and mental, however great or minor, those risks may be, rather than give them the support and care which would help them through pregnancy?
We have a long way to go before we cherish all our citizens equally. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Patrick Davey Dublin Road, Shankill, Co Dublin.