Press release from The Iona
Institute

State must respect Catholic ethos
of Mater Hospital

August 8, 2013- The State must respect the ethos of the Mater hospital, The Iona Institute has said today.

The organisation was reacting after Fr Kevin Doran, a member of the Board of Directors of the hospital said he believed the Mater “cannot comply” with the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act.

Speaking on behalf of The Iona Institute, Dr John Murray said: “A Catholic hospital cannot be expected to alter its ethos to accommodate the newly passed law on abortion. The ethos of the Mater already requires it to provide first-class medical care to both mothers and babies. Its ethos is already pro-life in the best sense of that term”.

He continued: “However, the new law will force it to compromise this ethos. Under it, the Mater could be faced with a scenario where it is told to perform an abortion that clashes with its ethos, for example, where a woman is deemed to be suicidal. The Mater hospital currently saves lives. It cannot be forced to take lives in order to conform with a badly misguided law”.

Dr Murray added: “According to some legal experts, the refusal of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act to respect the ethos of Catholic hospitals could be unconstitutional. As a result of, the board of the Mater could well decide to take a constitutional case against the new law”.

ENDS