Abortion: Let’s get scientific

An ostensible advantage of the separation of Church and State is that law and politics can be based on scientific evidence rather than religious belief.

It is thus disturbing in ‘post-Catholic’ Ireland to find the Government is proposing legislation based almost entirely on ideology.

We know there was no medical evidence heard in the X Case judgment, but that doesn’t mean we must still ignore the data 20 years later. Empirical research now strongly indicates a neutral or negative effect of abortion on mental health.

Suicide in pregnancy is almost unheard of in Ireland — around two incidences in the last 30 years.

Legislating for abortion in the case of suicidal ideation may feel right, but then the Earth feels suspiciously flat! Let’s look at the science and think this out.

Dr Samuel Shephard PhD

Dungourney

Co Cork