Sir - With despairing and pregnant Irish women forced to cross the Irish Sea to seek a solution to their plight in ever increasing numbers, maybe it's time to re-examine our thinking when we say, "not in our back yard". Having the freedom to choose can work both ways and does not necessarily mean that an unplanned pregnancy will end in a termination.
My unplanned pregnancy, luckily, happened when I lived in England. I had a consultation with my sympathetic doctor who referred me to a local clinic where I was examined and counselled and a date was set without too much delay. I was very determined that my only option was to have a termination and I was relieved that this situation had not occurred when I had been living at home in Ireland. In the time between seeing my doctor and the fateful day upon which I was to have my termination, I talked to my many friends (there was no embarrassment and no need to conceal what was happening to me) and I thought long and hard about this decision; and in the end, I changed my mind. No one persuaded me either way; I was simply given the dignity to choose for myself. My children (twins, as it happens) are strong and healthy and well loved by me and know that they are here because I wanted them. Most importantly, they are here because I had a choice. I dread to think how things would have turned out if my only choice had been to get a weekend off, a loan from a friend and a return ticket to London. - Yours, etc.,
Mary Hughes, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.