The Pro-Life Campaign have criticised the Irish media for not doing enough to inform parents of babies with life-shortening conditions about perinatal hospice care.

Responding to the coverage of cases such as that of ‘Ricki’ and ‘Niamh’ who are planning to go to England for an abortion after they would told their baby has a life-ending disability, Cora Sherlock of the Pro Life Campaign said: “It is wholly unacceptable that the national discussion on this important and sensitive issue should be so completely one-sided and favouring abortion.

“No one is suggesting that heart-breaking personal stories should not be heard but there must be some balance in the coverage. Parents of babies with life-limiting conditions are surely entitled to hear about the positive benefits of perinatal hospice care. There is no point in pretending this is already happening because it simply is not.

“It should not be a hit or miss situation that parents get to hear about perinatal hospice care. Right now, that is the situation.

“Parents who have experienced perinatal hospice care say that while the initial diagnosis that their baby had a terminal illness was devastating, perinatal hospice care enabled them to continue the pregnancy in a way that was meaningful, positive and therapeutic. Abortion on the other hand is irreversible. The way the debate is being framed at present is keeping parents in the dark about alternatives to abortion. It is time for some balance in this debate,” Ms Sherlock said.