Removal of 8th amendment strips away right to be born

Dear Editor,

I once heard a young American woman tell her story.

She was progressive and thought abortion was the only reasonable course for a woman to take when she did not want to be pregnant.

This woman did not see any alternative.

Then she met a young man. In the course of a conversation about abortion he said very little. In fact he only said two words: ‘It’s wrong’.

She had never heard those words before and they resonated with some part of her.

After that she could never fully get away from that insight.

In 1983 the vast majority of Irish people believed that direct abortion was wrong and much of the debate before the vote on the 8th Amendment was around the legality of the proposal while some eminent lawyers main- tained that the legal right of the baby to be born was already covered under the Constitution. Recently the Supreme Court made it clear that the only legal protection for the baby is the 8th Amendment.

Its removal would mean the stripping away of the baby’s right to the primary human right, the right to be born.

I suspect that in their heart of hearts the Irish people still believe that abortion is wrong.

I hope they will act on this and vote no to the removal of the only legal protection we have for the lives of babies at their weakest, as they journey from conception to birth.

Regards,

Eileen Gaughan,

Strandhill, Sligo.