Freedom to choose has wide implications

SIR, Three recent media items by those working in the field of obstetrics made me think about what health professionals have to respond to and how their thinking shapes their approach

Dr Chris Fitzpatrick, a former master of the Coombe, in an article in the Irish Times, made the point that situations can be grey and nuanced rather than black or white

Dr Rhona Mahony of the National maternity hospital pointed out in a radio interview that medically it’s not always clear what’s going on and that things can change rapidly for the mother and child.

Both items were enlightening, informative and took careful consideration. I came away with two significant points of reflection.

First, the reality with rules is that we could never legislate for all the situations that might arise. The international experience shows that dealing with limited special circumstances through the law becomes wide open in a short space of time. Therefore, how we approach this question is not just about situational medical decision-making. The reality of the profound human consequences and the wider societal consequences simply cannot be separated from individual actions and choices.

Secondly, I’d like to ask all doctors what they became doctors for. I cannot believe that any doctor or health professional, mindful of the Hippocratic oath of old, would start out in their career with providing abortion on demand as the vision of their vocation. Yet that is where the limited special circumstances argument leads us. The situations may be grey, but the ultimate choice is as black and white as life and death. So the ethos really does matter. Making decisions with the intent to save life is completely different from deliberately and intentionally taking the life of the unborn. Sincerely,

Willie Hayes, Midleton.