A new study indicates that unborn babies are sometimes born alive after legally-performed abortions in Ireland, and are then left to die. Such late term abortions are carried out in cases where there is a life limiting condition or a so-called ‘fatal foetal abnormality’.

The study, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, is based on interviews with abortion doctors working in Ireland.

They say they “are ‘unclear as to who will look after these babies’ if a baby is born alive following TOP (Termination of Pregnancy) by induction of labour and without feticide, resulting in them ‘begging people to help’ them in providing palliative care”.

Some of the doctors performing these abortions talk about the “internal conflict” they experience and how ending the lives of unborn babies can be “brutal”, “awful” and “emotionally difficult”. The study quotes one doctor referring to what they do as “stabbing the baby in the heart.” Another doctor interviewed for the study said: “I remember getting sick out in the corridors afterwards because I thought it (feticide) was such an awful procedure and so dreadful.”

Yet, despite all this, some of the doctors interviewed believe the new abortion law is too restrictive and want all remaining restrictions removed.

Eilís Mulroy of the Pro Life Campaign reacted by saying the findings are truly heart-breaking:

“It goes way beyond confirming the worst fears that pro-life campaigners expressed before the 2018 referendum about what would happen in the event of legalised abortion. Doctors in this study are openly talking about the grotesque life-ending procedures they engage in, yet in the same breath they want to see the legal grounds for abortion expanded even more. It’s clear from reading the study that many of these same doctors are more preoccupied with concerns about the threat of litigation than the horror of what they are doing in ending lives”.