The Kindest Cut: Memoir of the Doctor who introduced vasectomy to Ireland (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781068729508)

Had you not lived and worked in Ireland through the 70's and 80's, not half a century ago, you would not believe the extent to which we were all obliged to toe the line of Catholic dogma. This was particularly so in matters of human sexual behaviour, most crucially as it applied to contraception and family planning.

Underlying this whim of Catholicism was the notion that any sexual activity leaves open the possibility of procreation and that anything, for example, family planning, that frustrated that possibility was morally wrong and sinful.

Many doctors in Ireland at the time, in fact, the majority, went along with this idiocy and refused to prescribe to birth control pill to their patients, leaving them continuously vulnerable to becoming pregnant without a break.

It was against this background that the author of this book set up a medical practice in Ireland in the teeth of opposition from both Church and State, and he became an advocate for human rights in reproductive medicine.