Asking obstetricians to contribute to the debate on Ireland’s constitutional protection for the unborn is “not fair”, the new clinical director for maternity services in the South/South West Hospital Group has said. Prof. John Higgins, a consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital, insisted that medical professionals “do not need to be in the vanguard” of the ongoing debate. “Asking obstetricians to contribute to the debate regardless of what their views are, I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t think it’s required either. I think obstetricians have good insights but they shouldn’t be the arbiters on a constitutional situation.” Adding that the arguments around abortion are “fundamental decisions for society to decide”, he said, “My main concern is that people take time, think about it very carefully and that we allow a range of voices to be heard before a decision is made.”
