Exploiting the disabled to justify abortion

I hope no-one will accuse Alison O’Connor (Irish Examiner, August 7) of discrimination against the disabled, due to her advocacy of the right to end a pregnancy in cases where the child will be born disabled.

From previous writings, I believe she is just as happy to support the right of a woman to end a healthy pregnancy.

It is, however, much easier to use the more emotive example of disability to insert the thinner end of the wedge, in pursuit of wider abortion rights. What a pity advocacy groups for the disabled stay silent on such matters, especially in a week when Ireland’s Special Olympians were so widely praised. What a pity, also, that the disabled, who are often denied an equal voice in society, can be used in attempts to introduce the right to destroy unborn life, under the label of tolerance.

Rory O’Donovan

Killeen

Co Cork