The Irish launch of ‘The Global Charter of Conscience’ took place in Dublin yesterday. The purpose of the 
charter is to find a way of letting people of different beliefs co-exist in society and have their conscience rights curtailed to the smallest extent possible.
Christian writer and speaker Os Guinness launched the document. The event was hosted by the Evangelical Alliance.
Dr Guinness strongly attacked Government plans to force medical institutions in Ireland to perform abortions regardless of their ethos.
He said that conscience rights extend not only to individuals but also to institutions.
Junior Health Minister, Alex White, has said that conscience rights apply only to individuals.
Clause five of the global charter states: “The rights of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion apply not only to individuals, but to individuals in community with others, associating on the basis of faith”.
The charter sets out a vision of “freedom of thought, conscience and religion” for people of all faiths and none, and calls for “the cultivation of civility and the construction of a civil public square that maximises freedom for everyone.”