Abortion legislation needs to catch up with reality

SIR, Is there room at the cabinet table for morality? lt appears that there isn’t if Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is to be taken at his word when he promises to spend the €300 million available in this budget on tax cuts for ‘middle income’ groups.

What determines middle income in the minds of politicians is very debatable. The lower paid didn’t suffer during the recession, it appears, as they are not deemed worthy of assistance.

Hospitals are in need of more nurses and beds.The waiting lists for treatment are at an all time high. Children await serious medical intervention. Emergency departments are bursting at the seams.The elderly need home help.

Surely these are moral issues in any democracy, but not so, it seems, in the isle of saints and scholars. Should a topic like this be debated by the hierarchy? Are they not the guardians of morality? Should the pulpit be used to inform us of our moral responsibilities as a caring humanitarian and predominantly Christian society?

Justice, and indeed morality, were ignored when the weakest and most vulnerable in society were sacrificed on the altar of fiscal adjustment when the financial system collapsed nearly a decade ago. Now we are finally balancing the books. We are collecting as much tax as we did in the boom years and we lay aside €6 billion – €8 billion to service our €200 billion debt, before any tax money is alotted to our services. The weak still suffer and Fine Gael ideology and electoral strategy are going to keep them in misery.

If our Taoiseach is a caring man and a Taoiseach for all the people, especially the less well off, then he has to change policy and give to those in most need. But then, politics is all about the next election, isn’t it? Sincerely,

Gerry Cournane, Tralee. SIR, This Saturday, September 30, will see people take to the streets on Dublin for the Abortion Rights Campaign’s sixth annual March for Choice. Members of Kerry for Choice will be amongst them. We will be marching in solidarity with the one woman every week who leaves Kerry to access abortion services abroad. These women should be able to receive the healthcare they need at home.

In 2016 we know that 3,265 women from Ireland had abortions in the UK, of these 49 women were from Kerry. These figures only include those who provided their Irish address. We suspect the real number of women seeking abortions is much higher as many women use the UK address of family or friends. Some women access abortions services in other countries.

There is a strong, countrywide, appetite for change. It is time the government caught up. It’s time to act!

Sincerely,

Paula Dennan Convener,

Kerry for Choice.