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IRELAND ABORTION GUIDELINES ALTERED AS ABORTION COURT CASE BEGINS

DUBLIN, Ireland, September 13, 2001 (LSN.ca) - The Irish Medical Council passed a motion yesterday to tighten abortion guidelines. The new guidelines retain the language of the 1998 guidelines saying "the deliberate and intentional destruction of the unborn child is professional misconduct . (but ) . Should a child in utero suffer or lose its life as a side effect of standard medical treatment of the mother, this is not unethical." However the new guidelines add wording from a 1992 court case which opened Ireland to abortion. The council voted 14-8 to allow abortion where there is "a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother".

The Irish Supreme Court ruling in 1992 which first used the wording, was based on the case of a pregnant high school student who had threatened suicide, and deemed abortion permissible since her "life" was "at risk" due to her suicide threat. A subsequent allowance for international abortion information and permission for Irish women to travel abroad for abortions led to Ireland's current state of affairs. LifeSite reported last month that provisional figures released by the British Office for National Statistics show that, during the first quarter of 2001, 1,696 women who had abortions in England and Wales provided Irish addresses - up almost 200 abortions from the same time period in 1999.

However, the new guidelines may have restricted access to abortion somewhat in removing the threat of suicide excuse. Irish papers report that the new guidelines follow the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' (IOG) position, which has spelt out the restricted type of medical circumstances where this might arise. Dr Patricia Casey, who was a member of the council and according to the Irish times " is opposed to any relaxation of the law on abortion," said "The deliberate destruction of the unborn is gone, the threat of suicide is gone."

For related coverage from Irish papers see:
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2001/0913/hom8.htm
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/today/sep12/News/xabort.shtml
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=509355&issue_id=5240

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