{"id":2759,"date":"2013-05-05T04:38:35","date_gmt":"2013-05-05T11:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=2759"},"modified":"2018-03-06T13:14:50","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T21:14:50","slug":"proposed-irish-abortion-law-demands-referral-by-objectors-denies-freedom-of-conscience-to-denominational-institutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=2759","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Irish abortion law demands referral by objectors, denies freedom of conscience to denominational institutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0general scheme for a new\u00a0Irish abortion law will permit abortions when there is a “real and substantial risk” to the life of a woman by reason of physical illness, suicidal ideation, or emergency medical conditions.\u00a0 The scheme is called a “heads of bill”, with each “head” corresponding to what\u00a0is likely to become a section of the final
\nbill.\u00a0 However,\u00a0the wording and content of each head\u00a0are not settled.<\/p>\n

Protection\u00a0 of Conscience Provision<\/h2>\n

The General Scheme for the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 <\/em>includes a protection of conscience provision <\/a>that is limited to medical practitioners, midwives and nurses.\u00a0 The commentary states that the provision is derived from a bill passed by the Irish Parliament in 2001 (which ultimately did not become law), but it is\u00a0narrower provision than the original, which extended protection to all persons.<\/p>\n

All hospitals and institutions operated by the state or by persons contracted by the state will be required to provide abortions if they\u00a0provide maternity or neonatal care.\u00a0 No exemptions are permitted for facilities operated by religious denominations or persons who object to abortion for reasons of conscience.<\/p>\n

Section 2 of the protection of conscience provision may\u00a0deny freedom of conscience to\u00a0psychiatrists and other medical practitioners who do not wish to participate in panels convened to approve abortions for women who are threatening to commit suicide.\u00a0 One third of Irish psychiatrists have already signed a letter <\/a>to the government asserting that abortion is not a treatment for suicidal ideation.<\/p>\n

Finally, the bill demands that medical practitioners who do not want to participate in the procedure must find someone willing to do so.\u00a0 Many conscientious objectors are unwilling to refer patients for morally contested procedures because they believe that by doing so they become morally complicit in wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

It is not clear how much difficulty the mandatory referral requirement\u00a0will cause, since the bill envisions abortion only in circumstances involving a substantial risk to the mother’s life.\u00a0\u00a0This is very rare, and in such circumstances there is much less likelihood of conscientious objection, so it may not prove to be troublesome in operation.\u00a0 On the other hand, government comments accompanying the bill note that medical practitioners do not need to be of the opinion that the risk to the woman’s life “is inevitable or immediate.”\u00a0 The more broadly this\u00a0interpretation is construed, the more likely it is that conflicts of conscience will occur.<\/p>\n

While the proposed bill is the product of the controversy generated by the death of Savita Halippanavar in Galway in October of last year, it does not appear to propose anything that would have made a difference to the outcome of that case.\u00a0 Her death was caused by a particularly virulent infection that is not normally found in maternity settings.\u00a0 An emergency induction of the kind contemplated by Head 3 in the proposed bill was legal at that time and had been decided upon when she spontaneously delivered a stillborn daughter.\u00a0 (See A “medical misadventure” in Ireland: Deaths of Savita and Prasa Halappanavar<\/em><\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 The\u00a0general scheme for a new\u00a0Irish abortion law will permit abortions when there is a “real and substantial risk” to the life of a woman by reason of physical illness, suicidal ideation, or emergency medical conditions.\u00a0 The scheme is called a “heads of bill”, with each “head” corresponding to … Continue reading “Proposed Irish abortion law demands referral by objectors, denies freedom of conscience to denominational institutions”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,41,8,9,295],"tags":[518,293,315],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-2759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abortion","category-ireland","category-legal-commentary","category-news","category-religious-freedom","tag-protection-of-life-during-pregnancy-bill-2013","tag-referral","tag-savita-halappanavar"],"yoast_head":"\r\nProposed Irish abortion law demands referral by objectors, denies freedom of conscience to denominational institutions - 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