Independent Deputy Clare Daly has introduced Bill Number 115 of 2013 (Protection of Life in Pregnancy (Amendment) (Fatal Foetal Abnormalities) 2013 in the Irish parliament (Oireachtas) to expand the reasons for abortion to include cases in which the foetus is diagnosed as having “a medical condition . . .such that it is incompatible with life outside the womb.” The government will not oppose the bill. [Irish Times]
Category: Ireland
American activist organization assists with push for expanded abortion law in Ireland
The Center for Reproductive Rights, an American activist organization based in New York, is assisting three women who are approaching the United Nations in an attempt to force Ireland to expand its newly-minted abortion law to include abortion for reasons of foetal abnormality likely to result in the death of the child soon after birth. They are also supported by an Irish “Doctors for Choice” group. [Irish Central] [The Guardian]
Priest resigns after Mater Hospital agrees to comply with Irish abortion law
Father Kevin Doran of Dublin has resigned from the board of the Mater Hospital following its public statement that it would comply with the new Irish abortion law, which has not yet come into effect. Fr. Doran had previously said that it would be inconsistent with the Catholic ethos of the hospital to provide abortions. The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin in making enquiries about the hospital’s position. [The Journal]
- Irish hospital agrees to comply with abortion law
- Mater Board priest says hospital can’t carry out abortions
- Irish government signals intention to force Catholic hospitals to provide abortion
Irish hospital agrees to comply with abortion law
The Mater Hospital in Dublin has announced that it will comply with Ireland’s new abortion law, which requires designated institutions, including the Mater, to provide abortions approved under the terms of the statute. Father Kevin Doran, a member of the board of directors, had previously stated that the hospital could not comply with the law. [The Journal]
Artificial reproduction unregulated in Ireland
Artificial reproduction is not regulated in Ireland, so that sperm and egg donors and people having recourse to it and children conceived or carried to term in surrogacy arrangements may have to go to court to determine their legal status and relationships. Questions about what to do with embryos abandoned by their parents have also arisen, although this problem also exists in jurisdictions that regulate the procedures. The Irish Ministry of Health is now considering regulatory proposals. [Irish Examiner]