Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte (pictured) has accused the Catholic bishops of using “strident” language in the abortion debate and said they must not ‘dictate’ to the Government.

He was commenting on remarks made by Bishop Leo O’Reilly, who said that the Government’s decision to introduce abortion legislation was “the first step on the road to a culture of death”.

Earlier, the four Catholic Archbishops had said that Government proposals would fundamentally change “the careful balance between the equal right to life of a mother and her unborn child in current law and medical practice in Ireland”.

Such legislation, they said, “would pave the way for the direct and intentional killing of unborn children. This can never be morally justified in any circumstances”.

In response, Mr Rabbitte told RTE he was surprised at the bishop’s intervention because the legislation had not yet been published.

He described Bishop O’Reilly’s remark as a “strident intervention”. He also insisted that TDs would not be given a free vote.  

Meanwhile, Minister of State Brian Hayes accused the bishop of using ‘extreme’ language, and urged the bishops to wait and see what the legislation actually contained.

Mr Hayes claimed that the idea that some kind of abortion culture or abortion regime will follow the enactment of the legislation was fanciful..

He said that ‘over reactions’ or ‘intemperate’ or ‘extreme’ language by any one group including the hierarchy does not help the matter right now.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland yesterday, Bishop O’Reilly said it would mean that the “careful balance” between the life of the mother and the equal right to life of the unborn child would be “fundamentally changed”, and would pave the way for the intentional killing of unborn children.

He said: “Legislating for the X Case not only would legalise abortion, but for the very first time in Ireland, it would inevitably lead to the most liberal kind of abortion.

“This would be a radical change in the culture of life that we have had here in this country – and let’s not make any mistake about it – it would be an irrevocable change, there would not be any going back.

“And that, we believe, would be the first step on the way to what Pope John Paul has called a culture of death.”

Bishop O’Reilly said even if the intention is to have very limited abortion, it inevitably leads to a more liberal regime.

He said: “You cannot legislate for limited abortion, especially if the threat of suicide or of mental health grounds are considered grounds for abortion.”

He also said the Government should have followed the guidelines or regulations option outlined in the expert group report on abortion.

Bishop O’Reilly said: “One of the recommendations that the expert group made was the path of guidelines, of regulation.

“They have decided not to follow that path and we believe that is profoundly wrong because if you bring in abortion, even if the intention is to have very restricted abortion, experience shows that it will lead to more liberal abortion.”

The bishop also said that TDs should be given a free vote on the issue.