Impenitente Don Stefano dal cuore d'oro! Non comprendi che i naufraghi bisogna curarli come convalescenti d’una grave malattia. Se m'hai accolto come un naufrago, parlami del Regno dei Cieli, il solo del quale ci sentiamo cittadini senza riserve. Nella tua cantoria si respira aria di Paradiso. Lasciami accanto all’organo che mi trasporta lassù. — Non lo coccolate mica troppo Gesù: lo abituate male! E poi non ho mica tempo io! Caro don Stefano, forse non t’accorgevi di parlare col cuore confidente dei Santi.

* *

Ricominciare: è la tua legge Quante volte abbiamo dovuto ricominciare per rifarci la vita. Così sarà anche questa volta: fino a quando non ricominceremo più. Ma allora sarà la volta buona perché avremo dato la scalata al Cielo. Dio di misericordia, perdonaci il sogno ambizioso cui deve tendere ogni anima che T’appartiene!

* *

Della verità. E’ risaputo: ognuno ha la sua che pretende imporre agli altri. Ma c’é una sola verità sulla terra, e si possiede solo quando si operi in funzione della Verità eterna: Dio.

* *

In fondo, chi è più furbo? Chi si dedica a Satana o chi si dedica a Dio? Questione di gusti. Chi s'illude di godere al massimo un secolo e chi vuol godere in eterno.

* *

L’accusa di ignoranza con la quale i moderni coltissimi gratificano le folle dei credenti non c’impressiona. Non siamo ignoranti abbastanza da ignorare che lassù non ci sarà domandato cosa sappiamo, ma ciò che abbiamo fatto. E allora? Vale la pena di erudirsi troppo? Sì, ma attingendo a quell’oceano senza sponde che è la dottrina di Cristo.

 

9 giugno 1946 

Durante la quaresima, a partire da oggi, ci faranno compagnia le meditazioni di Benigno (Auro d'Alba).

È repugnante ricorrere a Dio solo nei giorni del dolore.  È vero che Dio è il conforto degli afflitti, ma il cuore non di sola consolazione si nutre, ma di espiazione. E di questo dobbiamo ringraziarlo. Chiedere a Dio di evitarci il dolore è profondamente umano, ma significa anche mercanteggiare la fede. Il cristiano non dovrebbe mai chiedere a Dio che beni eterni.

* *

Amo la sinfonia dell’organo dopo la benedizione, quando la folla sciama. È un finale di gioia che investe l’anima. Le canne son tante gole d’angelo osannanti. Cristo rimane solo, prigioniero nel suo piccolo guscio d’oro, e par che spii se qualche fedele sosti un momento a guardarlo con l’ultimo sguardo d’ Amore.

* *

Mi guardo intorno. Dio, Dio di misericordia e di consolazione, gli uomini osano persino mettere in dubbio la Tua esistenza! Che sarebbe di noi senza di Te? Un mondo di disperati. Gli è che la vera libertà risiede nella Tua legge.

* *

Più si procede nella vita, più ci si convince che importa, sì, la stima degli altri, ma importa sopra tutto la stima di sé.

* *

Dall’« Omo Salvatico »: «Il Poeta e il Santo rimangono tutta la vita simili a quei fanciulli che Gesù cercava e per i quali è fatto il Regno dei Cieli ». Se è vero, come han detto tanti e ribadito Giuliotti, che nel tuo Spirito è la divina Poesia, di che devi temere?

* *

Qui tutto è alto, tutto aspira al volo: la strada, le torri, le scale, il verde, i bronzi, l’acqua, l’azzurro. Il gran pino che mi saluta al mattino, s'agita s'agita nelle giornate di vento, e apre le braccia quando squillano le campane, invocando il Cielo perché lo liberi dalla servitù della terra. Tutto tende a sollevarsi. Persino la fonte, nel giardino pensile, dopo essersi lanciata a volo, ricade delusa, in uno scroscio di pianto, a due passi dagli uomini seduti sulle dominanti panchine. Tutto tende all’alto: tutto, fuorché gli uomini affannati, che salgono a testa bassa, come sentissero — e sarebbe già molto — il peso della propria miseria.

2 giugno 1946

Will we ever have an honest discussion about divorce in Ireland?

 

Divorce will affect children for the rest of their lives, well into adulthood, but people don’t want to hear this because it makes them feel bad about their decisions, says Spectator columnist, writer and broadcaster, Bridget Phetasy.

A piece she wrote a few months ago titled “How divorce never ends”, is based on her personal experience and presents the lifelong impact of parental break-up on children. It caused a huge reaction, for and against. Those who supported the article were themselves usually children of divorce. Those who reacted angrily were often the parents who exhibited great defensiveness about what they had done, even though Phetasy was at pains to say parental separation, for example when the relationship is abusive, is justified.

Phetasy (née Walsh), whose parents divorced when she was 12, recounts how her life and that of her future husband – also a child of divorce – were upended. Their school achievements declined, and they fell into rebellious behaviours. The logistical challenges of splitting time between parents, with cross-country travel and fractured holiday traditions, contributed to instability and neglect. Lacking proper supervision, the children often resorted to reckless behaviour.

“So often it feels like two people are just ‘over it’ [meaning the parents] and want to move on with their lives and be single again instead of doing whatever it takes to make it work for the kids. People don’t want to hear this because it makes them feel bad about their decisions. Divorce sucks. It never ends and it should be a last resort”, she wrote.

Phetasy – a former columnist for Playboy magazine, of all things, – is now a mother and uses her parents’ shortcomings as a guide for what not to do.

“Before I had a kid, I asked people who came from similar backgrounds how they managed to raise great, well-adjusted kids. They always said the same thing: “I just did the opposite of what my parents did.’”, she writes in her piece.

She argues that divorce is too often treated casually, with little regard for its profound and enduring impact on children.

She admits harbouring lasting anger and grief over her parents’ prioritisation of new relationships over their children’s well-being. These feelings persist into adulthood, particularly as the complexities of managing relationships with multiple sets of grandparents now affect her own family.

Talking to the feminist podcaster Louise Perry, she recalls the reactions from readers of the piece and also from followers of her YouTube channel.

“People lie to themselves about how hard it is on the kids. There’s this lie: kids are resilient, they’ll be fine. It was heartbreaking reading the initial flow of comments that came in.  First you get the flood of people who feel seen and heard and validated. “Thank you so much this was my experience. I felt I this brought up so many emotions of my own”, and then you get the backlash and the people misinterpreting you and taking it out of context”, she told in the interview.

Commenting on Bridget Phetasy’s article, Louise Perry noticed that the consideration of what is a truly valid reason for divorce often leads to exaggeration of issues, while many overlook the long-term impact on their children, whose lives will be shaped by the decision for decades to come.

The majority of break-ups occur in low-conflict marriages, where the impact on children is often more profound due to the unexpected and therefore more traumatic nature of the separation. In such cases, it is usually in the best interest of the children for the parents to remain together.

2025 will mark 30 years from the divorce referendum in Ireland, where now over 320,000 adults are today divorced or separated and hundreds of thousands of children affected. This anniversary will surely be celebrated with enthusiasm, but a mature assessment will consider the voices of people like Bridget Phetasy who have suffered because of their parents’ decisions.

Lessons so far from the British ‘assisted dying’ debate

The assisted suicide bill regrettably passed its second reading in the UK House of Commons last week, with 330 MPs voting in favour and 275 against. Among Labour MPs, 58pc supported the bill, as did 60pc of Reform Party representatives, while only 19pc of Conservative MPs backed it. On the plus side, more Labour MPs voted against than had once been predicted and perhaps the bill can be defeated, or at least watered down at a later stage. It intends to allow those within six months of death to end their own lives via a doctor-prescribed poison.

The bill will now move to the committee stage for detailed scrutiny before returning to the Commons for a third reading, expected in April.

Supporters of the bill have used euphemistic language, such as the term “assisted dying”, misleading the public and obscuring the fact that a person is ending their own life, which is suicide.

During the parliamentary debate, a Labour representative objected to the use of the word “suicide”, as offensive and incorrect. Danny Kruger, a Tory MP and prominent opponent of the bill, replied that one of its effect was to amend the Suicide Act.

This tactic of changing the language using neutral or positive words has been central to the campaign led by groups like Dignity in Dying, formerly the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, which frames the bill as a compassionate choice that ensures dignity for terminally ill patients. Euphemisms manipulate public perception and mask the bill’s potential risks. A recent survey showed that support for the bill goes significantly down when respondents are correctly explained what “assisted dying” really means. Many confuse it with palliative care.

Another misleading tactic is the denial of the slippery slope effect, i.e. that the restrictions for accessing assisted suicide or euthanasia are gradually lifted with time, as it has happened in other countries.

Deputy Leadbeater, said on BBC radio that “once the bill is passed, it cannot be changed”.

This false claim was repeated by the Economist magazine: “some cannot shake the fear that Ms Leadbeater’s law would be a slippery slope. If they mean that the criteria would sneakily be broadened to include the mentally ill or disabled without further legislation, then the facts are against them. In no case has an assisted-dying law restricted to the terminally ill expanded in this way”.

But it is undeniable that every piece of legislation can be changed in the future, by politicians or by courts. In many states with assisted suicide laws, the courts have re-interpreted those laws to broaden the grounds more than legislators envisaged. Moreover, one of the effects of legalising assisted suicide/euthanasia is the change in social attitudes towards the practices, which in turn stirs further changes in the law.

We also that the campaign for assisted suicide has been bolstered by plenty of money.

For example, in the London Underground, where at least one suicide attempt occurs every week, lots of posters were on display including one showing a woman dancing in the kitchen alongside the words: “My dying wish is my family won’t see me suffer. And I won’t have to.” These highly insensitive billboards were later covered with posters promoting the Samaritans helpline.

Deputy Kim Leadbeater, who sponsored this bill, is the Chair of More in Common UK. This network is supported by organisations like the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations, led by George Soros, which have a long history of promoting population control initiatives. Will we see something similar happening here? With a new Government due to be agreed after last week’s election, assisted suicide and euthanasia are sure to be somewhere in the programme for the new Dail.

Sono poeta

 

Sono poeta (U. Bottoni)

Allor lento io vagando, ad una, ad una

                                                            Palpo le piaghe onde la rea fortuna,

                                                            E amore, e il mondo hanno il mio core aperto.

                                                                                                            UGO FOSCOLO.

In quei momenti che la barca mia,

S’arena sopra il mare de la vita,

Quando più oscura ne divien la via

E sitibonda mugghia l’acqua ardita,

 

Quando la mente fugge nel mistero                                    5

E sol rimane la realtá crudele,

Quando ne’ spazi vagola ’l pensiero

E provo del dolor l’acerbo fiele,

 

Sento una voce allora mugolante

Che irridendo nel cor vibra secreta                                    10

E mi ripete in quel penoso istante

«Tu non hai vena, tu non sei poeta!»

Auro d'Alba, 1906.

Some surprising opposition to England’s ‘assisted dying’ bill

On Friday, the UK House of Commons will vote on a bill by a Labour MP to introduce assisted suicide in England and Wales. Some interesting opposition to it has emerged.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said a whip would not apply and Labour party members could “vote their conscience”, but some important members of his Cabinet and also other Labour MPs have expressed concerns.

The most prominent opponent is the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown who said that the early loss of his daughter Jennifer, who lived only eleven days, taught him that the focus should be on the improvement of palliative care.

“An assisted dying law, however well intended, would alter society’s attitude towards elderly, seriously ill and disabled people, even if only subliminally, and I also fear the caring professions would lose something irreplaceable – their position as exclusively caregivers”, he wrote in an opinion piece for the Guardian.

The bill pertains only England and Wales, while Scotland is considering its own legislation. Brown is Scottish.

At least five cabinet ministers will vote against the proposed bill, including the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Ryner, who has opposed similar legislation in the past.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has raised concerns that the bill could pressure terminally ill patients to end their lives to save NHS resources, potentially leading to a “chilling” scenario where financial considerations influence patient choices.

Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, has also indicated her opposition. “I feel that once you cross that line, you’ve crossed it forever. If it just becomes the norm that at a certain age or with certain diseases, you are now a bit of a burden… that’s a really dangerous position to be in”, she said.

Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, suggested there were not enough safeguards in the Bill.

Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, has also stated his opposition to the proposed legislation. “Constituents will know in the past I have always voted against proposals to change the law in this way. This is mainly because I have profound concerns about how vulnerable people could be protected should this happen”, Reynolds wrote on Facebook.

As of today, eight members of the UK Cabinet have publicly declared their intention to vote in favour of the assisted suicide bill.

Another leading Labour figure to come out against the bill is the major of London, Sadiq Khan.

The Conservative Party’s leadership has also permitted a free vote on the bill, enabling MPs to decide based on their individual convictions. This approach reflects the deeply personal nature of the issue and acknowledges the diverse opinions within the party.

Three former Conservative Prime Ministers – Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Theresa May –  have stated they will vote against the proposal.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has actively campaigned against the bill. In 2024, Cardinal Vincent Nichols issued a pastoral letter urging Catholics to oppose the legislation, warning that it could shift medical duty from care to the facilitation of death.

New report shows anti-Christian persecution is getting worse

Persecution of Christians around the world has increased further over the past two years from already high levels, according to a new report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

The problem has worsened not only in individual countries but across continents and is one of the most under-reported forms of persecution in the world today despite being so vast in scope.

The “Persecuted and Forgotten? Report 2024” provides an extensive overview of the persecution of Christians globally, analysing conditions in 18 countries from August 2022 to June 2024.

More than 60pc of the countries surveyed have witnessed deteriorating conditions for Christians, with significant threats identified in parts of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

The report notes that the epicentre of Islamist militant aggression has moved from the Middle East to Africa. Countries like Burkina Faso, M
ozambique, and Nigeria have faced severe attacks on Christians, including mass killings, abductions, and forced displacement.

“Over a hundred thousand Christians were among the many who fled for their lives 10 years ago when ISIS seized vast swathes of Iraq’s Nineveh Plains. For years since they have lived like refugees in their own country, helped only by their fellow believers around the world – including substantial help from Aid to the Church in Need”, says the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil in Iraq, Bashar Warda, in the foreword to the report.

He adds: “Christians in other countries are today facing jihadist extremism, whether in Burkina Faso or Mozambique – and equally bitter is the oppression of believers by authoritarian regimes like China or Nicaragua”.

In Burkina Faso, jihadist groups control 40pc of the territory, targeting Christian women with sexual violence. Similar patterns were noted in Mozambique and Nigeria, where Boko Haram and Fulani militants orchestrated massacres during Christian holidays.

Totalitarian regimes such as China, Iran, and North Korea have intensified crackdowns on religious practices. China enforces “sinicisation”, compelling Christian leaders to align with Communist ideology, while Iran has escalated arrests and harassment of Christian converts. In North Korea, Christians face brutal punishments, including imprisonment and torture.

The report highlights Nicaragua as an alarming example of rising authoritarianism attacking religious freedom in Latin America. The Ortega-Murillo leftist regime has targeted the Catholic Church with severe measures, including the expulsion of clergy; the closure of Church-run institutions, such as schools and charities; the confiscation of Church property and the restrictions on religious activities, including public celebrations like processions during Holy Week.

The government has increased surveillance of Catholic parishes, harassing and intimidating clergy and laypeople. It has also closed the Vatican’s embassy and suspended diplomatic ties with the Holy See.

In India and Pakistan, the report reports heightened attacks under the guise of anti-conversion laws and blasphemy accusations. Hindu nationalism in India has led to over 700 attacks on Christians in 2023 alone, with churches destroyed and believers forcibly displaced. In Pakistan, abductions and forced conversions of Christian women remain prevalent.

Archbishop Warda emphasises the urgency of global intervention to prevent further attacks on Christians.

“Our prayer is that those reading this report, whether governments or others with influence, will do more than just pay lip service to reports of Christian persecution; they must match their words with action – clear and decisive policy commitment – to help those whose only crime is the Faith they profess”, he says.

Here is a link to an interview with Michael Kelly from ACN about the report.

How marriage protects against depression

A major new study shows that unmarried individuals are much more likely to experience depression than those who are married. The study looks at seven different countries, including Ireland.

The research revealed that unmarried individuals - including those who are single, divorced, separated, or widowed - exhibit significantly higher risks of depressive symptoms compared to those who are married. Specifically, the analysis found that unmarried status is associated with an overall 86pc higher risk of depressive symptoms. This increased risk appears particularly pronounced among divorced or separated individuals (99pc). It is instead 79pc higher in single and 64pc in widowed individuals, when compared to married people. 

The study involved over 100,000 participants. The other countries examined along with Ireland were the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, South Korea, China and Indonesia.

In Ireland, the risk of depression was notably higher for divorced or separated individuals, who faced a 160pc increased risk, and for widowed individuals, who had a 115pc increased risk, compared to their married counterparts. In other word, for every 100 married individuals experiencing depressive symptoms, in Ireland there would be approximately 260 divorced or separated individuals and 215 widowed individuals experiencing similar symptoms.

The research suggests that marriage provides protective mental health benefits, possibly through mechanisms such as emotional and social support, economic stability, and the positive influence spouses can have on each other’s well-being.

Importantly, the study also highlights that the association between marital status and depression is influenced by demographic and cultural variables. The authors suggest that the more pronounced link in Western countries, including Ireland, reflect cultural differences in social expectations and support systems surrounding marriage. “Eastern cultures tend to tolerate higher levels of emotional distress before it becomes problematic, which may partially explain the lower risk of depressive symptoms in unmarried participants from these countries”, they say. The authors admit that further research is needed to understand the observed cultural differences.

Gender and education level influence in the relationship between marital status and depression. The study found that unmarried men are 25pc more likely to experience depressive symptoms than unmarried women. This risk was even higher among single men (48pc) while the research did not observe a significant difference between men and women among divorced/separated or widowed.

“Females tend to have larger and stronger social support networks than males, particularly among never-married individuals”, the authors note.

Additionally, those with higher educational attainment showed a greater likelihood of depression when unmarried compared to those with lower educational levels. This could reflect variations in social expectations and pressures, where individuals with higher education may feel a stronger sense of isolation or failure if they remain unmarried.

In conclusion, this study reinforces the link between marital status and depression, expanding previous understandings by including a more diverse global sample. Marriage, as highlighted by this research, provides significant mental health benefits, reducing the risk of depressive symptoms. It offers emotional support, economic stability, and shared responsibilities, fostering resilience against stress. These are all good reasons why marriage should be promoted and strengthen in public policy and legislation.

Some good and bad pro-life news from the US elections

 

In this week’s US election, citizens voted not only in the presidential and two congressional elections but also in numerous referendums, including several on pro-life issues. In three states, attempts to make abortion laws more liberal were rejected, while seven states passed pro-choice ballot measures.

The most significant pro-life victory occurred in Florida, where an effort to extend the legal abortion limit from 6 to 24 weeks of gestation did not reach the required quota of 60pc of the vote.

Pro-life advocates, led by Governor Ron DeSantis, successfully blocked Amendment 4, a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at establishing a “right” to abortion. The amendment would also have allowed abortions after 24 weeks for “health reasons”, which are always vague, like in Britain.

If passed, Amendment 4 would have nullified Florida’s current six-week abortion limit and potentially override parental consent requirements, threatening parental rights.

Despite over $40 million in support from out-of-state pro-abortion organisations, the amendment fell three short of the 60pc threshold needed to pass constitutional amendments in the state.

Pro-life advocates celebrated significant wins also in Nebraska and South Dakota, as voters rejected proposed constitutional amendments aimed at expanding abortion access.

Nebraska had two papers on the ballot. The current law prohibits abortions after the first trimester (12 weeks), except for medical emergencies or cases related to rape or incest.

An attempt to lift the 12-week limit was rejected by voters, while they approved by 55pc a competing ballot measure to enshrine the current limit not only in legislation but also in the state constitution.

In South Dakota abortion is banned except to save the life of the mother. A constitutional right to abortion was opposed by 58.6pc of voters.

These results are extremely important for the prolife movements. In 2022, the Supreme Court found that there is no right to abortion in the US Constitution, and left every state to regulate this issue in its constitutions or in legislation. In the meantime, the pro-life side has lost one vote after another, until the various referendums this week.

Another important pro-life victory was achieved in West Virginia, where voters approved a constitutional amendment to prohibit assisted suicide and euthanasia. They were already illegal but now the ban is now in the state constitution.

Unfortunately, radical pro-choice amendments passed in seven states.

Colorado voted to create a ‘right’ to abortion in the state constitution and allowing the use of public funds for it. Its law was already one of the most extreme as it does not restrict abortion after a specific point in a pregnancy. Babies can be killed up to birth. In 2020, voters rejected an initiative that would have banned abortions after 22 weeks.

A similarly radical amendment passed with a large support (61.5pc) in the state of New York, where abortion is already allowed up to birth.

In Maryland, Montana and Nevada, where abortion is already legal up to viability (24 weeks), voters added a new article to the Constitution’s Declaration of Rights establishing a “right to reproductive freedom”.

Missouri voters also made abortion ‘a fundamental right’ to its Constitution by a small margin (51.7pc). The pro-choice campaign spent almost $29 million compared to a mere $1.3 million of pro-life side.

In Arizona, where abortion is legal for any reasons up to 15 weeks of gestation, 61pc of voters supported an amendment to the state constitution establishing that the state may not interfere with ‘the fundamental right’ to abortion before the point of foetal viability.

These result show how radical the pro-choice movement has become in the US. They always push the limits and, even when the law has no gestational limits to abortion, they push it to make a ‘fundamental constitutional right’.

These recent pro-life victories are encouraging but the disappointing results in many states show that fight for the right to life is far from over.

“They can have an abortion every month if they want”

 

A recent study by two pro-choice academics provides interesting insights into the GPs who offer abortion services in Ireland. Those GPs, while fully in favour of abortion, nonetheless have reservations about some of what they are seeing, and in particular about women who have had multiple abortions in a relatively short time.

Very revealingly, when one doctor raised concerns about women having multiple abortions, someone from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which is a big abortion provider, accused the doctor of being ‘judgemental’, and said women should be able to have an abortion every month if they want.

The research, published by two members of the Law School at University College Cork (UCC), is based on interviews with 15 doctors, most of whom are part of START (Southern Task-force on Abortion and Reproductive Topics), a network of pro-choice healthcare professionals.

According to the study, a key motivation for participating in providing abortions is “respect for human rights, women’s rights, and equality.” ‘Dr H’ (all names are anonymised) stated: “I’m a very great believer in bodily autonomy and the rights of the individual.”

Some of these doctors were politically active in campaigns to repeal the Eighth Amendment. However, the anonymous interviews reveal that even among strong pro-choice advocates, there are reservations about aspects of the work they are doing.

‘Dr P’ told the researchers: “I think it’s important to acknowledge that we’ve made a decision that a woman should be able to have an abortion if she wants one and, big deal, you shouldn’t have to justify it or beg for one. But at the same time, like I remember, I had one girl, a student, and she had three abortions in 18 months. And I remember thinking, you know, that’s not what I voted yes for.”

It should be noted that the study is written from a distinctly pro-choice perspective. It was partially funded by the Irish Family Planning Association, and one of its authors is a member of the Abortion Working Group of the National Women’s Council of Ireland. Only selected responses from the interviews are published, and we do not have access to the complete data, yet these selected quotes reveal some hesitations.

Another doctor, referred to as ‘Dr O’R’, remarked: “You know, I have had five who’ve had three [abortions]. Four or five women for three. And when we’re talking in our group, we get quite paternalistic saying, ‘Jesus, throw the Implanon [a long-term form of contraception] into her.’ And when we had BPAS over, they were saying, ‘How dare you be so judgemental? She can have a termination every month if she wants.’ Still, you know, the medic part of me goes, ‘God—surely that’s tough on her,’ you know, but yeah—how do you reconcile that?”

Unlike other countries, Ireland collects almost no data on women undergoing terminations, so it is unclear how many have had more than one abortion but this study confirms that this is not uncommon here.

The interviews also reveal tensions within GP practices between those who provide abortion services and those who do not. “Yeah, I’m probably known as the baby killer, but no, all nicely. Some of my very best friends and colleagues absolutely refuse to do this. They will remain my best friends. You know, I don’t do toenails. I send them up to my colleague. He sends me, you know… so we, you know, I think we’re all over it,” said ‘Dr O’R’.

Some participants in the study admitted they do not discuss their involvement in providing abortion services with family members or acquaintances. ‘Dr B’ stated: “I would say there’s very few people who would talk openly about the fact that they provide that service in a social setting because they just don’t know who’s there and what their view is going to be. And that’s actually a stigma, like, that is actually, you know, a stigma that you’re carrying.”

The report by Marie O’Shea on abortion services in Ireland estimates that around 90pc of Irish GPs do not participate in offering these services. This new study suggests that even those who are involved may struggle to reconcile their ideological commitment with the realities they face in practice.