The Minister for Health Simon Harris is assessing if services provided under the Maternity and Infant Care Scheme can be expanded to pay for expectant mothers who want an abortion [1]. Pro-life leaders have said providing abortion under this scheme would make a mockery of it.
Currently, the Maternity and Infant Care Scheme [2] allows for maternity services free of charge when provided by a family doctor (GP) and a hospital obstetrician. Government sources told various media the assessment was at the preliminary stage but it was keen there would be “no barrier to accessing services on the basis of affordability”, which means pro-life tax-payers would be forced to pay for abortions.
“Our priority is that no woman is treated differently because of her economic circumstances – part of the reason we legalised abortion is to ensure women no longer turned to the web for abortion pills,” a source told the Irish Independent [3].