Government must provide assurances that hospitals will comply with new legislation on abortion
People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has said that the intention of the Irish Catholic Bishops, as set out in a document titled ‘Code of Ethical Standards for Healthcare’, to refuse to offer abortion and other services in public hospitals that they control and their refusal to accept the democracy of the vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment is way out of line with the upcoming legislation on the termination of pregnancies in Ireland.
She said that it demonstrated the “backwardness of the Bishops”.
The document also points to a ban contraception, gender reassignment surgery, crisis pregnancy counselling with information about abortion counselling for families who are having to deal with the diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality in some 20 hospitals run by religious orders.
Bríd Smith said: “I think it is quite disgraceful that the Bishops are seeking to deny women and pregnant people the right to have an abortion, access to information about counselling services and other healthcare measures. It is also an outrage that they would also totally disregard the democratic process in the wake of the tremendous referendum result in May.
“These backward Bishops would try to impose their moral code on the population and, if they got their way, would try to bring us back to the Dark Ages.
“We need clarification and assurances from the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach that public hospitals that are run by religious institutions will be obliged to abide by and deliver the services provided for under the upcoming legislation on abortion in this country.
“Furthermore, this is another glaring example of why we have to get the church out of our hospitals and our schools and a separation of church and state. If a hospital is run by a religious order they will try and impose their moral ethos on everyone who avails of their services. This cannot be allowed.
“We need our hospitals run by medical people, not by nuns and we need science-based non-ethos based sexual education for schools.
“I note that the Irish Bishops didn’t show much regard for the babies of Tuam and the women and children which they sent to the Magdalene Laundries. Their hypocrisy is unbelievable”.
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