A clear defeat for the pro-choice side

12th May 2013

Decision of GPs not to endorse Government’s Bill on abortion “a clear defeat for the pro-choice side”, says Dr Kirsten Fuller

At the annual conference of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) today, members rejected the wording of a motion which called on members to support the publication of the Government’s draft Bill on abortion. Instead doctors voted in favour of an amended motion calling on the government to introduce evidence based medical guidelines when bringing forward clarity regarding the treatment of mothers in pregnancy.*

Dr Kirsten Fuller who attended the conference in Galway said: “The amended motion which was carried today is a clear defeat for the pro-choice side.

“The refusal of GPs to endorse the recently published heads of the Bill on abortion sends a very strong message to the Government that any proposal it produces must be evidence based. The amended motion which was passed in its place also makes this abundantly clear.

“Introducing abortion on the ground of threatened suicide would certainly not be evidence based. Following today's vote and the rejection of abortion at the recent IMO conference, the Government cannot ignore the concerns being raised by doctors.”

www.prolifecampaign.ie

PLC welcomes clarification from Professor Fergusson and challenges RTÉ's presentation

7th May 2013

The Pro Life Campaign welcomed the remarks today on Morning Ireland from Professor David Fergusson which showed that the Pro Life Campaign and others have been accurately quoting his research on abortion and its mental health implications for women.

Before the Morning Ireland interview, RTÉ advertised that Professor Fergusson would be on the programme and suggested that he would be taking issue with the way some pro-life groups were using his research.

Commenting on this morning's interview with Professor Fergusson, Cora Sherlock of the Pro Life Campaign said:

"I welcome Professor Fergusson's remarks today which showed that the Pro Life Campaign and others have been accurately quoting his research. But I’m sorry to say the way RTÉ presented the item set out to create the impression that we had misquoted Professor Fergusson’s research.  This has been shown to be totally false."

The Pro Life Campaign has always quoted Professor Fergusson's research in the context of the overall mental health consequences of abortion for women.  Professor Fergusson clearly distinguished the issues on the programme and confirmed the accuracy of the quotations used during the Oireachtas Hearings which quoted the evidence in the context of mental health effects on woman.  He also confirmed the dearth of evidence in regard to abortion and suicidality.

"The psychiatric evidence presented at the Oireachtas hearings in January was unanimous that abortion is not a treatment for suicidal ideation.  That is why the Pro Life Campaign is accurate in stating that the argument for abortion in the case of threatened suicide was demolished at the hearings."

"The burden of proof is on the Government and those who campaign for the introduction of abortion to show that it has any therapeutic effects – in particular that it protects women against suicide.  To date, no such evidence has been produced."

"RTÉ has an important role to play in challenging the Government on whether they are correct in pursuing abortion as a treatment for suicide, given the lack of evidence. It is a statement of fact that to date RTÉ has not pursued the Government with any vigour on this point."

"The failure of RTÉ to challenge both sides of the debate equally is fast becoming part of the story."

www.prolifecampaign.ie

Labour Party should “stop pretending” abortion for threatened suicide is best medical practice

6th May 2013

Labour Party TD Ciara Conway said today that the only amendments that would be considered to the proposed abortion legislation were ones that would bring the law into line with best medical practice.

Commenting on Deputy Conway’s statement, Pro Life Campaign Deputy Chairperson, Cora Sherlock said:

"If the Government and in particular the Labour Party to which she belongs are serious about introducing best practice for women and babies during pregnancy, they would stop pretending that abortion is a treatment for suicidal feelings ."

Deputy Conway is herself a member of the Oireachtas Health Committee that heard expert evidence in January that abortion is not a treatment for suicidal ideation.

"If the proposed bill was genuinely about ensuring best medical care for mother and baby in pregnancy, then every pro-life person would be supporting it. The bill, however, is about introducing an abortion regime and this will become much clearer in the coming weeks as the bill is closely scrutinised."

www.prolifecampaign.ie