Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland are calling on flock faithful to lobby lawmakers to vote down a bill allowing abortions in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.
The measure is “a dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law,” the bishops said, in a statement issued Friday in The Associated Press.
Ireland has Europe’s most restrictive abortion laws – they’re practically banned. Those wishing to terminate their pregnancies have to travel to England, where the procedure’s been legal for more than 45 years.
But Ireland is giving the law a second look, and lawmakers may approve a bill to allow for abortions under certain circumstances.
The issue took front and center after an Irish woman was denied an abortion and subsequently died from blood poisoning, AP said. Abortion activists said her life could have been saved if she had received the procedure.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s deputy foreign minister, Earmon Gilmore, said that bishops could lobby all they want. But Ireland’s legislators, facing mounting pressures from the Irish Supreme Court as well as the European Court of Human Rights, were going to pass the measure by July, AP reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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