Sir, – While the greatest sympathy and support must be extended to any woman whose baby has been diagnosed with an “abnormality that is incompatible with life” (Front Page, April 17th), this should not prevent us from recalling the rights of the unborn baby affected. That unborn baby, as an innocent human being, has a right to life that a truly humane society must protect and defend.
For many of us, our last moments with our loved ones before they die are our most cherished. Should the unborn live after birth for only one minute, day, month, or year, they will truly have been a blessing, sometimes in disguise. No one, regardless of the situation, should be allowed cut short their baby’s little time on this earth. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I too am a woman whose baby was diagnosed with severe foetal abnormalities.
I am grateful that her short life was not further abbreviated by abortion. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – Bravo to The Irish Times, Kathy Sheridan and in particular these brave women for the affecting, important piece on terminations for medical reasons (Home News, April 17th). There are no easy answers as to where and when such procedures should be allowed, but it is surely clear that these women should not have been put through what they have. That life may sometimes be unfair is unavoidable, as Ms Bowie states, but there is no need to make it worse due to political cowardice.
Ireland is surely mature enough now to recognise that the status quo is damaging to members of society at particularly vulnerable times in there lives; we must learn as a society to be civilised enough to do something about this. The leadership and bravery shown by these women is hopefully the first step. – Is mise,
Sir, – In years gone by Britain, France and the United States “legalised” the brutality of slavery whereby millions of human beings were degraded, tortured and even killed by designating them as “sub- human”.
Respectable and church going people accepted and lived with the evil of slavery because it was “legalised”.
The Nazis used the same arguments as were used to justify slavery and now used to justify abortion.
In our days the use of nice and undisturbing terms are used to sanitise the evil of abortion.
“Termination of pregnancy” instead of destroying the life of an unborn child, “foetus” instead of “baby”. Modern science now shows that a baby in the womb is easily identifiable as a baby even in the earliest weeks of pregnancy.
Slavery was finally brought to an end because of the courageous work of honest and upright politicians like William Wilberforce in England and Abraham Lincoln in America. Thank God that in our time we have great Christian leaders like Pope John Paul, Pope Benedict and others who are fearless in leading the world in the battle against abortion.
We await the emergence of courageous political leaders like Wilberforce and Lincoln to lead people in protecting and safeguarding unborn innocent human beings. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I was moved and humbled by the Kathy Sheridan’s article (Home News, April 17th). What is wrong with us as a people/nation that we cannot give Jenny, Ruth, Amanda, Arlette and so many others the human dignity to have an abortion in their own country? God forgive us for what we do to them and to others.