Over three quarters of Irish voters are opposed to proposals to allow doctors to prescribe contraception to 14 and 15 year olds without the knowledge or consent of their parents, a new poll conducted by RedC on behalf of The Iona Institute shows.

The poll shows that 77 per cent of people oppose the proposal, advanced by the Law Reform Commission (LRC) last December in a consultation document, entitled ‘Children and the Law: Medical Treatment’.

The poll was being released as the Institute hosted a talk by a leading UK expert on what does and does not reduce teenage pregnancy.

Speaking in Dublin last night, Professor David Paton of Nottingham University told the audience that the pregnancy rate among Irish teenagers aged under-16 is only a sixth of England’s rate despite the fact that the long-standing policy in England has been to prescribe contraception to this age group without parental consent.

He said that Irish teenage birth and pregnancy rates are “extremely low in comparison with countries such as England and Wales,” and there was “little evidence of the situation worsening.”

“The low pregnancy rate amongst minors in Ireland is so striking that caution is surely warranted before making significant changes to the legal position surrounding access to contraception for minors,” he added.

Professor Paton reviewed the research that assesses whether easier access to contraception reduces pregnancy rates among teenagers. He concluded, “The evidence from the peer-reviewed literature on the impact of increased access to family planning on conception rates amongst minors is not encouraging.”

Most studies in this area, he continued, had failed to “find evidence that access to family planning reduces pregnancy rates among minors.”

Meanwhile, commenting on the poll results, Iona Institute director, David Quinn said, “It is clear that there is huge opposition to the LRC proposal to give young teenagers contraception without the knowledge or consent of their parents. “In addition, and as Professor Paton points out, the evidence is not there to support such a radical change in social policy. Ireland already has a very low teenage pregnancy rate so it would seem odd in the extreme, if not counter-productive, to adopt the British model in this regard.”