Prime Minister: Catholic Hospitals Will Now Be Forced to Perform Abortions

Now that abortion is legal in Ireland, all hospitals, including those with a Catholic ethos, will be required to carry out abortions once the country’s repeal of a constitutional abortion ban goes into effect.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadka made the announcement while discussing surgical abortions during a speech to the Irish parliament, just a few weeks after Ireland voted by a large margin (63 percent) to repeal the amendment that had banned abortion in the country for the last 35 years. While many conservatives predicted Ireland’s abortion ban repeal would lead to the loss of other freedoms, it’s somewhat surprising how quickly this has proven to be the case. . .

The Irish government has been drafting legislation to address how abortion law will work now that the ban is overturned. One proposed bill would allow women to get an abortion during the first trimester, and into the early weeks of the second trimester in extreme cases. Legislators are using Ireland’s Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act of 2013 as a guide. This piece of legislation allowed for abortions in extreme medical circumstances, and for individual medical personnel to opt out of giving those abortions.

Varadkar is Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister. President Trump has boasted about their “outstanding relationship” and Time magazine called him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

He did offer a loophole for doctors, nurses, and midwives who want to opt out of performing abortion procedures on conscience grounds, but it’s unclear how that would play out in practice. Regardless, Varadkar was still clear all of Ireland’s medical institutions, no matter their origins or funding, would be required to participate in performing abortions now. (Read more from “Prime Minister: Catholic Hospitals Will Now Be Forced to Perform Abortions in Ireland” HERE)

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