It is unclear if the new maternity hospital on the St Vincent’s campus in Dublin will be expected to follow the code

Catholic hospitals could break the law and refuse to offer abortions in all circumstances, a “code of ethics” drafted by the Irish Catholic Bishops suggests.

Guidelines for up to 20 main hospitals connected with religious orders include a ban on most assisted reproduction procedures. The few allowed are not to be given to unmarried women or LGBT couples.

The Code of Ethical Standards for Healthcare, which sets out what can be expected from Catholic healthcare services, bans contraception; gender reassignment surgery for transgender people, crisis pregnancy counselling with information on abortion and counselling for families going through a fatal foetal abnormality diagnosis that lists termination as an option.

The document questions the ethics of tests during pregnancy that might identify a fatal foetal abnormality