In the womb or outside of it, human life is precious and inviolable

My blood ran cold as I read in a letter in an Irish paper a derisive reference to a “17-week-old foetus”.

It was signed by a ‘Dr’, which made it more chilling. I hope it wasn’t a medical doctor — I would hate for that person to provide medical care to my 17-week-old baby in utero, or any other baby in utero, or any person of any age.

‘Foetus’ is the Latin term for ‘little one’. The lives of human beings are precious and inviolable — regardless of their age, size, ability, health, or whether they are in their mother’s womb or outside of it. There are no gradations of human beings.

All of us were ‘17-week-old foetuses’. We were no less precious at that stage of life than we are now.

The dishonest pitting of a baby in utero against his/her mother is a despicable ruse of the abortion industry. A baby’s life and his/her mother’s are not in opposition, but naturally harmonised. The interests of the mother are protected by caring for the interests of her baby, and the interests of the baby depend on the well-being of the mother.

Ireland is world-renowned in obstetrics and maternal medicine. Our high standards of ethics ensure the best care for mother and baby. Unfortunately, and rarely, when treating a mother for a life-threatening illness it is not possible to save the baby’s life. This is not abortion but medicine. As was confirmed by an international symposium on maternal healthcare held in Dublin recently, abortion is never necessary to save the life of the mother. The pro-abortionists, with the collusion of the media, mislead by conflating abortion with medicine, which can involve the unavoidable death of the baby.

Abortion is the opposite of medicine, and not only deliberately kills innocent babies where they ought to be safest, but this unnecessary, violently invasive act kills many of the mothers, too. In India 20,000 women die from abortions each year.

If Ireland wants to retain its status as one of the safest countries in the world for mothers and babies, it will reject the pressure of the pro-abortion lobby, and keep abortion illegal and out of medical practice; if Ireland wants more mothers and babies to die, legalising abortion will achieve that.

Lynda Finneran

156 Ivy Exchange

Granby Place

Dublin 1