Thursday, August 08, 2013
Hospitals which refuse to carry out abortions to save women’s lives because of their religious ethos could face the withdrawal of State funding, the health minister has warned.
A spokesperson for James Reilly said he would await the decision of the board of the Mater Hospital who will meet in the coming weeks to discuss whether to abide by the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act.
He said comments by a priest on the board, Father Kevin Doran, that the hospital “cannot comply” with the new laws, were made in a personal capacity.
The spokesperson reiterated the minister’s earlier statement that: “We could not have a situation where a service being funded by the taxpayers could deny a citizen its rights.”
He also said the minister’s warning that hospitals would lose state funding if they did not comply with the legislation still stands. The Mater received €210m from the State this year, the second highest of the seven voluntary hospitals.
During Oireachtas committee hearings on the legislation last month, Dr Reilly refused to accept an amendment allowing hospitals to opt out on the grounds of a conscientious objection.
Such a right is afforded to an individual doctor, based on Medical Council guidelines, but not to an institution.
During the hearings, Fianna Fáil’s Eamon Ó Cuív, who tabled the amendment, asked if “the only sanction the minister could take ... is to withdraw the money?” to which Mr Reilly responded: “correct.”
There are 25 hospitals to which the provisions of the Act apply, of which 18 are run by the HSE. Yesterday, a spokesperson for the HSE said the hospitals it runs are “required to comply with the law”.
Of the remaining seven voluntary hospitals, which include the Mater, six said they will comply with the provisions of the act. These include Beaumont Hospital, St James Hospital, St Vincent’s University Hospital, the Coombe Hospital, Tallaght Hospital, and the National Maternity Hospital, Holles St. The chairman of the board of the latter is Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, but he has previously indicated his desire to end his role. This is likely to happen under Dr Reilly’s hospital groups plan, with Holles St under new governance arrangements as part of the Dublin-East group of hospitals.
To date, the Mater is the only hospital to have indicated difficulties with the new law, and the difficulties are so far those of one priest rather than the board.