A new Bill which would allow abortion where the unborn child is terminally ill is “ deeply hurtful to families whose babies live or lived with a terminal illness” the Pro Life Campaign has said.

The Government will not prevent the Bill, the Protection of Life in Pregnancy (Amendment) (Fatal Foetal Abnormalities) Bill and sponsored by independent TD Clare Daly, being introduced, although it is not thought likely that they will support it.

PLC spokesperson Caroline Simons said that the focus of debate on the issue of babies with such conditions ought to revolve around providing peri-natal hospice care facilities to give help and hope to families who receive a difficult pre-natal diagnosis.

Instead, Ms Simons said, the emphasis had been wrongly placed on abortion.

She added: “Many families who have received a poor pre-natal diagnosis have experienced much more precious time with their child than originally expected, or found that their child’s illness was not as serious as originally thought or in some cases there was nothing wrong at all.

“The discussion in the Dáil and much of the media on this issue has become completely one-sided. It is time for a more open and honest debate. The new proposal from Clare Daly is lamentable, and fails absolutely to examine possible alternatives.

“Notwithstanding suggestions to the contrary, our abortion legislation, which has no time limits and no medical basis, cannot be described as restrictive.”

Prior to the introduction of the Government’s abortion legislation in the summer, the Attorney General had advised the Government that a law allowing abortion where an unborn child was unlikely to survive outside the womb would be unconstitutional.  

Ms Daly said that other legal experts including a former attorney general disagreed with this view.

“The only way to resolve the conflict is to introduce legislation and have the Supreme Court adjudicate it,” she said.