Dr Rhona Mahony, the Master of the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street has told a Labour Party gathering in Kildare that the pro-life amendment should be repealed “for a variety of reasons relating to women’s health”. In Britain the ‘health’ ground accounts for the vast majority of that country’s almost 200,000 abortions annually.
She continued: “We have in Ireland terminations only when there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother that can be removed only by terminating the pregnancy,” she said. This poses difficulties, she said, because doctors are making decisions based on risk.
“This poses great difficulties prior to foetal viability because we are making decisions based on risk, trying to quantify a risk and also in some cases we have to wait until a woman is sick enough to qualify. In some cases, that is medical roulette”.
Ms Mahony said she was unhappy with her patients travelling to Britain for abortions. She said the current law did not allow her to care for them once they chose that option and travel of itself was stressful and risky.
