Are pregnant women denied medical treatment in Ireland?
To hear Clare Daly and her colleagues speak you'd think that women were being denied life saving medical treatment on a regular basis. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. The constitution is very clear, mothers and their unborn children have equal right to life and women cannot be denied treatment. To say otherwise is to cast aspersions on medical and legal professionals throughout the country. Despite the many problems in our health services all people are agreement that once a person is in the system they get excellent care. Our nurses and doctors are among the best in the world and they do everything possible to care for mothers and their unborn babies.
The Private Members’ Bill backing abortion introduced in the Dáil today by Socialist Party TD Clare Daly “falsely creates the impression that women in Ireland are being denied necessary medical treatments in pregnancy because of the absence of abortion here”, Dr Ruth Cullen of the Pro Life Campaign said.
Dr Cullen continued, “The reality is, however, that Ireland ranks as one of the safest countries in the world for pregnant women, safer than places like Britain or Holland where abortion is available on demand.
“The X Case decision, which Ms Daly proposes legislating for, heard no medical evidence and set no time limits for when an abortion could take place. So rather than being restrictive as claimed by its proponents, any legislation based on the X decision would amount to abortion on demand, with no regard for the humanity of the unborn child or the severe negative psychological after effects of abortion for many women. To ignore this reality in the name of “choice” does a grave disservice to women and their unborn children”.
