The
Mater hospital in Dublin will not carry out abortions according to Fr Kevin Doran, a member of the board
of governors and its
board of directors. The hospital
is one of 25 hospitals in the
country that is required to carry out abortions under the terms of the new
abortion law. This is despite the fact that the Mater is a Catholic hospital.

Fr Doran told The Irish Times: “The
Mater can’t carry out abortions because it goes against its ethos”.

Fr Doran said that presently Health
Minister James Reilly is
telling hospitals that
they “are not entitled to have an ethos”.

Sr Eugene Nolan, nurse tutor and member of
the board of director told The
Irish Times that the
new legislation “is being imposed on us” and is creating a “very very grave” situation for the hospital.

A spokeman for the hospital said the legal situation created
by the new abortion law “is going to be discussed by the board of
governors in the coming weeks”.

The Mater was founded in 1861 by the Sisters
of Mercy and is managed by a board of governors independently of the HSE. The
charter of the hospital explains that by taking care of the sick, “we
participate in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ”.

Another
Catholic hospital is also named in the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, St Vincent’s
University hospital in Dublin.
It is part-owned and part-managed by the Sisters of Charity. Like for
the Mater hospital, the charter
states the purpose of the hospital is to provide care and treatment “through
the continuance and furtherance of the ethos, aims and purpose of the
Congregation of the Religious Sisters of Charity”

However, a spokesman for the hospital
declared the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group “as always, be following the law on
the land”