suggest that the much less well-informed general Irish public continues to holds quite socially conservative and religiously inspired views on abortion; the public’s position is not unlike the traditional position of the Catholic Church. For abortion, therefore. it takes properly informed professional legislators, or citizens who are unusually well-educated on the issue, to understand the recommendations of modern medicine and joined-up women’s healthcare thinking.

George Monbiot admits that the widespread use of referendums in Switzerland has led to depressingly conservative and unenlightened choices. I suspect the same would be true in most countries, and about most important issues, such as was the case with Brexit.
Joe McCarthy
Dublin, Ireland