Some of Ireland’s most prominent physicians among hundreds of medics joining Amnesty campaign to decriminalise abortion

Hundreds of doctors from 44 countries including some of Ireland’s most prominent physicians have called on the Republic’s government to decriminalise abortion.



The 838 doctors and medical practitioners have joined an Amnesty International campaign to lift the threat of a 14-year jail sentence for providing or assisting in the provision of an abortion in Ireland.

A letter from the international team of medics has been sent to the Fine Gael–Labour coalition in Dublin, warning that criminalisation is putting the lives of young women, including rape victims, at risk.



“The criminalisation of abortion prevents healthcare providers from delivering timely, medically indicated care in accordance with their patients’ wishes,” the letter says.



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“It impedes and disregards sound medical judgment and can undermine the professional duty of care and confidentiality that doctors bear towards their patients.”



Colm O’Gorman, the executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, welcomed the support from global health experts in its campaign to decriminalise abortion.



He said: “Making criminals of women for abortion violates their human rights and can endanger their lives. In numerous countries around the world, Amnesty International has documented shocking cases of women forced to continue unviable pregnancies because of restrictive laws. We have seen women and girls pregnant as a result of rape forced to carry the foetus to term and give birth.



“International law is clear: at the very least women and girls should have access to an abortion when the pregnancy poses a risk to their life or health, in cases of severe or fatal foetal impairment, and in cases of rape or incest. International law also says that under no circumstances should a woman be made a criminal for having an abortion.”

The letter has been signed by some of Ireland’s leading healthcare experts including Dr Peter Boylan, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the national maternity hospital in Dublin’s Holles Street hospital, and Dr Veronica O’Keane, professor in psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin and a consultant psychiatrist.

A further 12 doctors and medical experts from Ireland have also signed the letter.

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Pro-choice campaigners both inside and outside the Irish medical profession have argued that there is a major “chill factor” hanging over medical teams even in cases affected by a law passed in 2013 allowing terminations in very limited circumstances.



The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act allows for abortion when continuing with a pregnancy would result in the mother’s death, or in cases where the woman is suicidal. Despite this legislation, women who are victims of rape and in many cases suicidal are still refused abortions in Irish hospitals. The law introduced two years ago also imposes a jail sentence of 14 years for any member of a medical team that carries out a termination beyond those limited exceptions.

Last year, a young asylum seeker who had been raped in her native country was refused an abortion by the Irish health service even though she claimed she was suicidal. The woman tried to escape to Britain to get a termination in Liverpool, but was arrested and deported back to Ireland from the ferry terminal by Merseyside police because she had no personal documentation with her.



The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was forced to go ahead with the pregnancy and gave birth via caesarean section in Ireland. The child was given up for adoption. It is understood the woman’s legal team are to sue the Irish state for forcing her to go to full term against her will.

