When guilt is a fact, not a judgment

ALEX MARSHALL (Irish Examiner letters, September 5) makes a number of remarks to which I feel compelled to respond.

My remarks about the guilt felt by women who have had abortions (Irish Examiner letters, September 5) are based on my experience in that I have never met a woman who had this procedure who didn’t experience these feelings afterwards. I say it as a matter of fact, not as a matter of judgement.

Mr Marshall then introduces the concept of ‘sin’ to paint me as a street-corner moralist who points the finger at women. While this is insulting, it does nothing to further the discussion.

Not surprisingly, he misrepresents my views on the “lack of prejudice” in modern Ireland. Never at any stage have I claimed this in the absolute. I was responding to the inaccuracy of his picture of Ireland in which he claimed that single pregnant women were forced into marriage or ostracised. Cases such as these no doubt exist, but are certainly not widespread.

In the end, he concludes by agreeing with me regarding the “horrific procedure” of unsafe abortion. I would be delighted with the Irish Family Planning Association’s “campaign to stamp it out.” Of course, what this actually means is that they want to legalise it, but from the point of view of the child, I’m sure there isn’t much to choose between the “safe, legal” method and the “unsafe” method.

James McGrath

Birchgrove

Hollyford

Co Tipperary