Sir, - Sheila Lane (July 13th) places the responsibility for the reality of abortion on a modern age in which "intemperance and sexual promiscuity are presented to our young people as socially acceptable, cool, and sophisticated". Her letter continues She goes on to state that now, in this modern age today "rape, child abuse and infidelity are rampant".
I was not until now aware that Ireland had this undergone a golden age in the past when rape, child abuse, infidelity and unwanted pregnancies did not exist. I have followed with disbelief the court cases of sexual assault of children in institutions, and the treatment of women who found themselves pregnant and unmarried in times past is well documented and was quite inhuman.
Ms Lane is presumably aware that sex is not an invention of modern society. What her letter illustrates is that by focusing the debate on the ethical/religious position on abortion we can conveniently sweep under the carpet issues such as sex education, availability of contraception, reproductive services for women, and maternity and childcare services (which by the way are mythically supposed to be good in Ireland, though I have so far seen no supporting evidence for this). These issues take work, commitment and resources to address, and they are all well documented ways of making a difference to the rate of unwanted pregnancies, and to the quality of women's lives.
Abortion is a last resort, and it should not be necessary. However, I would personally defend a woman's right to choose, within reasonably debated guidelines, whether her pregnancy should continue. Abortion may well be one of her options, but it is important to remember that Holland, with its liberal abortion laws, excellent sex education and availability of contraception, has the lowest abortion rate in Europe, and certainly a lower one than Ireland, which for such a so long has hidden behind emotive language to deny women the opportunity to control their fertility. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Chryssa Dislis, York Terrace, Cork.