Dublin, Ireland, Oct 8, 2018 / 16:01 pm
The Irish bishops on Friday lamented that the draft bill to legalize abortion in the Republic would require pro-life healthcare professionals to provide abortion referrals, calling the provision "an affront to conscience."
"The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 poses a very real practical and moral dilemma for healthcare professionals who believe in the fundamental human right to life and in their own responsibility to serve life," read an Oct. 5 statement from the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference.
They noted that the bill envisages that in the first twelve weeks, abortion will generally be chemically induced.
"This presumes that pharmacists, whether in hospitals or in private practice, will routinely stock and dispense drugs whose specific purpose is to end human life. No provision is made for pharmacists to opt out on the grounds of conscientious objection."