The Government’s abortion legislation was not needed to safeguard the lives of pregnant women, the Pro Life 
Campaign has said.
They were responding to reports in the Irish Times today that the first termination of pregnancy under the new legislation took place recently at the National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street.
The report suggested that a pregnancy that was terminated in the hospital under the new law. However, the Department of Health issued a press statement insisting that the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 has not yet commenced
Commenting on the story, PLC spokesperson Dr Ruth Cullen said that the HSE had confirmed today that the law has not yet come into force.
“On foot of this, one has to ask is The Irish Times suggesting that the law was broken by the doctors in Holles Street or does it now accept that the new law was not needed to protect women’s lives?
“In truth, life-saving interventions have always been in place. Ireland, without abortion, is a recognised world leader in safety for pregnant women. It is a tragedy that those campaigning for abortion legislation have been successful in creating the opposite impression,” she said.
The story in the Irish Times quoted a hospital source as saying “that the woman’s pregnancy would have been ended in similar circumstances even before the legislation was enacted”.
And Dr Peter Boylan, Clinical Director at the hospital, told Morning Ireland earlier today that patients will always be given the best possible care.
“Patients will get the care they deserve and we will not let any woman die in Holles Street. We will give her the appropriate care,” he said.
The Irish Times reported that doctors at the Holles Street hospital performed the procedure under section 7 of the act which deals with the risk of loss of life of a woman from a physical condition. However, the Department has confirmed this is not the case, the Journal.ie website reports.
In a statement, the Department of Health said that there were a number of operational issues which needed to be addressed before the Act came into operation.
According to the Department, a panel of medical practitioners needs to be established for the purpose of the formal medical review provisions and administrative facilities have to be put in place to allow for the review committee to perform its functions.
The HSE is working to address these gaps with the Department adding that it “will be commenced as soon as is practicable”.
Meanwhile, Dr Boylan also voiced his anger of what he described was an ‘outrageous breach of patient confidentiality’. An investigation has started to discover the source of the leaked information.
“It is absolutely unacceptable for patient details to be splashed around the front page of the newspaper,” he said.
“It is not fair on patients to do this. And it is completely unethical if it is a doctor giving information to the public…To give exact clinical details of a patient to a member of the press is absolutely unethical behaviour by any medical personnel. And if it is a doctor, then this sort of transgression or bad behaviour could well end up before the Medical Council.”