A group of family doctors has demanded that Minister for Health Simon Harris consults with GPs before legislation providing for a GP-led abortion regime is passed by the Oireachtas. The group of doctors assembled a petition that has been signed by 640 of their colleagues and which expresses concerns with the Government’s plans to have abortions readily available in Irish GP clinics and hospitals by January.

Dr Aisling Bastable accused Mr Harris of ignoring the voice of “mainstream general practice”, and called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin to intervene.

Dr Andrew O’Regan said: “Many GPs on the ground do not believe that general practice is the appropriate setting in which to deliver abortion because of the lack of capacity in an already overstretched environment, lack of training and availability of ultrasound and delivering on genuine freedom of conscience,” they said.