It will change medical culture

The Catholic Church of Ireland won’t resign to failure: Ireland must continue being the Country with the best measures in support of motherhood, thanks to legislation marked by high healthcare services to pregnant women and to their newborn children. However, the government has declared that it intends to change this law with an "Abortion Bill", thereby legalizing voluntary abortion. A historical moment for Ireland. It’s a historical moment for Ireland. The legislative process was accelerated past October when a 31 year-old woman of Indian origin, Savita Halappanavar, died for septicemia after having been denied pregnancy interruption in the hospital where she had been admitted. Investigations were initiated on the case that sparked-off a hot debate. Past April the Irish government announced its intention to endorse a radical reform of the present law. Irish Catholic bishops have reiterated their opposition with official statements and declarations. On Saturday June 8 tens of thousands of people convened in Dublin for a Vigil of Prayer for the Right to Life of Mothers and their Unborn Babies". "The Choose Life: We Cherish them Both", was the slogan of the event. Cultural promotion campaign. The latest initiative in chronological order is a newsletter titled "Choose life 2013", complied by the Catholic Communications Office, a weekly bulletin for parishioners, parish newsletters and websites with information promoting the Church’s position on the sanctity of unborn human life, to raise public awareness on Church teaching and on the draft bill on abortion. The newsletter also contains prayers and reflections that can also be found on the website www.chooselife2013.ie. "By virtue of their common humanity, the lives of both a mother and her unborn baby are sacred", is written in the newsletter. The Church does not teach that the life of a child in the womb should be preferred to that of a mother. However, because a baby in the womb is voiceless, some would have us believe that she or he is less human or less deserving of life". The newsletter voices in clear words the opposition to the "Abortion Bill", as "it contains no procedures to give effect to the ‘duty of care’ owed to the unborn; there is no appeal process for the unborn, there are no sedatives to be administered to an unborn baby in advance of the taking of his or her life; there are no risk assessments for early delivery and there is no redress board for a baby who survives an abortion but suffers medical complications as a result of premature termination of pregnancy".The voice of the bishops. The Irish Government "is proposing abortion legislation that will fundamentally change the culture of medical practice in Ireland", Irish Bishops wrote in a statement released a few days ago. They added: "Catholic Church teaching is clear: where a seriously ill pregnant woman needs medical treatment which may put the life of her baby at risk, such treatments are ethically permissible provided every effort is made to save both the mother and her baby". In their statement, the bishops also raise the question of the "freedom of conscience", as even if the law were adopted, no medical practitioner could be forced to practice abortion. "Neither should any institution with a pro-life ethos be forced to provide abortion services".