Will we now have more protection for birds than for the unborn?

SIR, About three weeks ago I went to a clump of firewood stacked against a tree with a view to cutting it up and bringing it into shelter at this point. I pulled away a log and a blackbird flew out. Inside was a nest with three eggs. With a feeling verging on reverence on seeing the vulnerability of the eggs, I put back the log, accepting that my choice to cut and move the wood would have to await the fledging of the young ones. Dare I say that with the repeal of the Eighth Amendment we have pulled away and thrown down the log of protection for the fertilized egg in the womb of the mother in no uncertain terms.

Correct me if I’m wrong then, but will there henceforth be more protection under law for birds nests/eggs hatching in farmer’s hedges than for new life in the womb?

The animal kingdom, guided solely by instinct, does not generally turn on its young. By contrast, us rational beings, in the exercise of our free will, over heedless and complacent time and with individual choice elevated beyond all other considerations, can bring about circumstances wherein it seems to us that good is ill and ill is good.

By now the fledgings are crowding the nest. Soon I will be able to finish my job and next year there will be birdsong again. Sincerely,

John O’Donoghue,

Woodlawn Road,

Killarney.