The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has responded to remarks by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, that Catholic hospitals must perform abortions. A spokesperson for the Archbishop told the Irish Catholic newspaper: “There is nothing new in Taoiseach’s statement. It is the law in Ireland since 2013. The Archbishop is unaware of any conflict situation in that time. Hospitals can only carry out procedures for which they are commissioned and have specific capacity.”

By contrast, Waterford’s and Lismore’s bishop, Alphonsus Cullinan, said Catholic institutions “should resist, at all costs, being forced to act against deeply held beliefs.”

Meanwhile pro-choice advocate, Dr Peter Boylan, said that publicly funded, Catholic hospitals will have to provide abortion services. He said such hospitals cannot “deny a legal form of treatment to half the population, i.e., women”, by refusing to perform abortions “when medically indicated and legal”. He was responding to a letter from moral theologian, Fr Vincent Twomey, who said that, contrary to the claims of the Taoiseach, the new article that replaced the 8th amendment does not empower legislators to mandate hospitals to provide abortion “services”, least of all Catholic hospitals.