Trump insists he is innocent, so why is he in such a panic?
AT a time when Russian and Western relations are at an all-time low and a possible trade war is looming, all Donald Trump seems to be concerned about is his lawyer’s office being searched by the FBI and documents and bank account details being removed.
Surely the president of the US should not use his office to criticise the FBI for information-gathering regarding an ongoing investigation? He looks like a worried man to me. MARTIN STRINGER, Barnacogue, Co. Mayo.
Dr King’s legacy
FIFTY years ago this month, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Dr King and Mahatma Gandhi were the great exponents of civil disobedience.
Over the past ten years I have observed politicians and extremists from the left in Ireland breaking the law and using Dr King’s message of civil disobedience as a justification.
How sad to hear the words and message of the great advocate of civil disobedience abused.
The term ‘civil disobedience’, as used by the media and political activists, is not the civil disobedience that Dr King advocated.
An act of civil disobedience, as outlined by Gandhi and King, may only take place when the following five criteria are present.
1. It must be self-evident that the issue being protested against is clearly immoral.
2. Every avenue for redress must first have been pursued.
3. Not only did those in positions of power and influence refuse to address the issue but belittled the petitioner and left no possibility of redress being gained.
4. The act of civil disobedience one must not ‘seriously disrupt the livelihood of others’.
5. After arrest, the petitioner must be prepared to accept the punishment handed down by a court of law without complaint.
If any one of these principles are absent, ‘civil disobedience’ should be considered criminal behaviour.
VINCENT J. LAVERY, Dalkey,
Distorting the truth
SADLY, much fear has been instilled into the debate on the Eighth Amendment, creating the illusion that maternal healthcare in Ireland has been seriously compromised. This fear is unjustified. Last week, former chairman of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Dr Eamon McGuinness, wrote: ‘Ireland is one of the safest places on Earth to be a pregnant woman.’
Chairman of the Joint Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology/ HSE Working Group on Maternal Mortality, Dr Michael O’Hare, writes: ‘There is no evidence whatsoever of a higher risk of maternal mortality or severe morbidity in Ireland as a result of the 8th Amendment.’
Furthermore, the current Irish Medical Council guidelines already clearly state that doctors should do all in their power to protect a mother, even if that involves ending the pregnancy when there is little or no hope of the baby surviving. Not to do so would leave the doctor open to a charge of medical negligence.
Meanwhile, in the UK, there are almost 200,000 abortions each year; only 0.2% of all abortions are for physical health reasons.
This atmosphere of fear is doing everyone a disservice and distracts from the reality of repeal.
If we vote Yes, the consequence will be unrestricted abortion on request up until 12 weeks. Ultrasound scans show clearly the humanity of the baby moving about the womb at that stage, with her clearly defined organs, limbs and facial features.
Calls for compassion have echoed from both sides of this debate. Yet, the heads of Bill define termination of pregnancy as ‘a medical procedure which is intended to end the life of the foetus’. This is not compassion, it is not healthcare and it will never improve maternal care.
Dr MARIE O’DONOVAN, GP, Co. Sligo; Dr TRÍONA DE
FAOITE, GP, Co. Cork.