Dear Sir... Readers' Views (08/07/16)

Treatment for women should be on their terms
We write to support the hundreds of women a year who experience fatal fetal abnormalities in their pregnancy. We write also to express our respect for the support group Terminations For Medical Reasons (TFMR) and their efforts to secure wider access to abortion services in Ireland. The case of Amanda Mellet, who was refused access to an abortion in Ireland for a fatal fetal abnormality, and the hundreds of women who share that experience every year, is a cause of frustration and shame for the medical profession in Ireland, that we are powerless to assist a woman undergoing “cruel and inhuman treatment” in the Irish Health Service, according to the United Nations, because of restrictive laws which lack popular support and are without a medical evidence base.