‘Reproductive health’ means just what it says
Why, in his view, do they want an abortion, if not on health grounds? His remarks about guilt, and about women putting "career or college" first give a clue these women have sinned, and they want to rid themselves of the inconvenient result of their sin.
That makes his claims about the lack of prejudice in modern Ireland read a little strangely there are no more workhouses for unwed mothers, it's true, and fewer shotgun marriages than there used to be but there are apparently still plenty of street-corner moralists to point the finger at women.
As for 'reproductive health,' the phrase means what it says safe motherhood, family planning, protection and treatment for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, and last but not least, protection from male violence. Abortion services are a necessary medical back-up in cases of unintended pregnancy.
In poor countries a mother's death in childbirth or from unsafe abortion threatens the lives of the children she leaves behind.
In richer countries, unsafe abortion is rarely fatal but it can be traumatic. It is truly a "horrific procedure" and I welcome the Irish Family Planning Association's campaign to stamp it out.
Alex Marshall
2117 Samsonville Road
Olivebridge
New York
