Sir, - Rita Moore wonders (July 5th) if I suffered a miscarriage. Yes, I did (after being married for a considerable time) but, thank God, like herself subsequently had a beautiful daughter.
Mrs Moore certainly answers Carol Stephenson's claim that trauma and guilt do not follow abortion for most women. If such grief follows a miscarriage, which is involuntary, what must follow an abortion, which is chosen? I found it strange that Aine McCarthy, in her article on July 4th, claimed that "the psychological responses to abortion are far less serious than those experienced by women bringing an unwanted child to term and relinquishing it for adoption". Where is the evidence of this? It defies logic that women could be traumatised more knowing that their babies are loved and cared for rather than knowing that they were not allowed to live.
I wholeheartedly agree with Ms Stephenson that if "a properly configured and controlled contemporary study of this topic" were made available, many of your readers would be interested in it.
Finally, as I stated, the posters displayed are the reality. Is Ms Stephenson suggesting that people should not be shown the reality? It would be tragic to think that women could have an abortion without knowing what is involved. - Yours, etc.,
Mrs Mary Stewart, Ardeskin, Donegal Town.