The right to express an opinion

Sir, – The Government proposes to legislate for safe access zones within 100m of facilities providing termination of pregnancies (“Legislation for safe access zones within 100m of healthcare facilities providing terminations to be approved”, News, July 27th).

This, we are told, is to protect the women attending these facilities from comments from anti-abortion campaigners. Regardless of one’s opinion on this matter, it seems to me that this Government is proposing a law that will limit freedom of association and freedom of speech for certain groups, based solely on their political opinions.

Everyone in this country who values freedom should ponder the ramifications of this proposal. All of us should ask ourselves which freedom that we approve of will be the next to be curtailed or removed.

Many will heartily agree with this measure as some of the speech women may be subjected to will be upsetting and hurtful, but that is precisely the type of speech that must be protected.

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Nice words and agreeable statements don’t need to be protected; it is speech that is upsetting and with which we vehemently disagree that must be protected, because most or all of us will have opinions that others will oppose.

Do you want your right to express your opinion to be curtailed simply because a person or a group of people don’t like it?

That is a slippery slope. Governments take freedoms away very easily; they are not so quick to grant them. We should be careful what we wish for. – Yours, etc,

TREVOR TROY,

Baile Átha Buí, Co na Mí.