Dublin story and photograph a mismatch

Re Pregnant woman taken off life support in Ireland, Dec. 27

I will never be mistaken for a Catholic apologist, however, this article and accompanying photo are a mismatch.

The article speaks of how a country rooted in a conservative Catholic theology is trying to grapple with change in the face of medical advancements and the ambiguities that change forces us all to confront.

The tragic case of a young woman and her increasingly non-viable fetus has drawn Ireland into a much-needed debate of the country’s laws on abortion. The fact that physicians cannot always navigate the law is evident in even Canadian medical, legal and ethical practice — the recent Rasouli v. Sunnybrook case being a notable example.

That those caring for the young woman and the child she was carrying sought guidance from the Dublin High Court is not an Ireland-specific case. That even the archbishop of Dublin weighed in that he had “no objections to removing life support,” demonstrates the challenge of balancing law, ethics and simple decency in the face of tragic circumstances and outdated legal strictures.

However, the large colour photo of a completely unrelated 2013 Rosary Procession at Knock Shrine, Ireland, has absolutely nothing to do with the case and only is serves to act as a caricature of the position of Catholics in Ireland and the presumed deeply rooted conservatism of its people.

A silly and lazy way to telegraph an editorial bias that is not in keeping with the issues as enunciated by the actual case.

Andrea Dyrkacz, Toronto