The Catholic Church’s support service for women facing unwanted pregnancies, Cura, is to close down tomorrow. Cura has attributed the decision to a declining demand for its services and to the Republic’s new regulatory environment for counselling which includes referral to pro-choice agencies. In addition, the State has drastically cut funding to Cura.
When originally established in 1977, Cura was one of two Irish agencies supporting women facing crisis pregnancies whereas now there are 14 such agencies, all of whom operate in a new regulatory environment with changing counselling quality standards compliance requirements. “In this new and changed environment we have been experiencing decreasing service demands in line with national trends and we feel this decision, which has been considered carefully for a number of years, is now the correct one”, they said in a statement.
They added: “The decision to close Cura is also informed by the findings and recommendations of the Health Service Executive Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme (HSE SHCPP) Review of Funding and Service Delivery Models of Crisis Pregnancy Counselling Services, November 2017 undertaken by Mazar’s and further reinforced by Minister Simon Harris’s recent announcement of the decision to regulate the professions of counselling and psychotherapy”.
The Catholic Bishops praised the pro-life contribution of Cura staff, volunteers and clients over its 41 years of operation and said they “shared the regret of Cura’s national executive council that Cura has been compelled to close due to the decrease in demand for its services and the accreditation requirements associated with the new regulatory environment for counselling.”
