The Coalition has rejected claims by Catholic bishops that citizens
should be “deeply concerned” about planned abortion legislation, which
is due to be published.The Conference of Catholic Bishops said people were being misled and that the proposed bill being deliberated on by the Government was ethically unacceptable.
The legislation is expected to include a provision allowing for a review of the law some time after its enactment — something that was not in the heads or outline of the bill published last month.
A spokesperson for Taoiseach Enda Kenny reiterated that there would not be a free vote on the bill, despite calls from the bishops for “freedom of conscience” for public representatives.
Earlier, a statement by the bishops suggested the bill could be used to destroy life even when the unborn child was at full-term.
“It is even possible to envisage as a result of this legislation the deliberate destruction of a child, who could otherwise be saved, right up to and including the moment of birth,” the group said.
The Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh, Eamon Martin, said his colleagues felt bound to speak out against the proposed law and that it was “time to uphold the right to life”.
He said his Church could not accept that abortion was an appropriate way to treat women suffering from suicidal tendencies or the “suggestion that the destruction of the life of a child will in some way help them”.
He told RTÉ radio that such arguments did not stand up to reason and should be challenged.
He said doctors dealing with pregnant women would face all sorts of crisis moments but that the bill would not bring clarity and would remove the right of individual practitioners to make a decision based on conscience.
He said it created very serious problems for trustees of hospitals that were run with a Catholic ethos and a pro-life agenda.
Archbishop Martin was speaking after the bishops met on the second day of their June gathering in Maynooth.
The Government is committed to having the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill passed through all stages of the Oireachtas before the summer break.
In a statement directed at the politicians who will vote on the bill, the bishops called on TDs to put their conscience before their party.
“We ask our public representatives to uphold the equal and inviolable right to life of all human beings, even if this means standing above other pressures and party loyalties,” it said.