The words “woman” and “mother” are being erased from Irish legislation.

The move was revealed in a letter to the Irish Times on Tuesday.

Last month, a parental leave bill removed the word “mother” from seven existing Acts.

Another bill, to allow paid time off for undergoing IVF or suffering a miscarriage, doesn’t mention women or mothers even once.

Two further bills, to provide free period products, also do not cite women or girls, preferring gender inclusive terms instead.

The news prompted a flood of highly critical letters to Thursday’s and Friday’s Irish Times asking what’s wrong with the word ‘woman’?

One letter writer said for years women and girls were taught that the natural biological processes they lived with were shameful and dirty and should not be mentioned in polite company.

“Given that we’re finally moving beyond this extremely harmful silliness, it’s very difficult to understand why the words “women” and “girls” cannot be used in discussions about these same natural biological processes. Is it now shameful to mention women and girls in these discussions? If so, why?”, she wrote.