‘If we all work at it, January abortion target will be met’
HEALTH Minister Simon Harris has warned that without a clear start date for the introduction of abortion services in Ireland, ‘women will still travel and still have to take illegal pills’.
However, he said the planned January 1 roll-out can still be met if stakeholders put their ‘shoulders to the wheel’.
The Minister has also said he will listen to the concerns of medics that the timeframe – now just three weeks away – is too ambitious.
Mr Harris has a crucial meeting today with doctors’ representative organisations to listen to their doubts.
‘This is not a deadline or a political project for me, as I keep hearing,’ the Minister said. ‘It is a recognition that, without a start date, women will still travel and will still take illegal pills.’
When the referendum was debated, the main driver for people was the experience of Target: Simon Harris women forced abroad at a time of crisis, he said.
‘I know our medical professionals are raising issues of genuine concern, but I do believe we need clinical leadership to prevail,’ he said.
‘I believe women in crisis pregnancies will expect their doctors to provide this service when it becomes legal.’
The meeting today will be an opportunity to show the progress made to date in establishing a 24/7 helpline, and in the roll-out of the public information campaign. ‘I will be using this opportunity to ask the stakeholders to put their shoulder to the wheel and assist the HSE in providing this much-needed service,’ Mr Harris said.
‘I am eager to hear their concerns, not through the airwaves or the papers, but directly, and I will not shirk from my responsibility in responding appropriately. But I also want to hear solutions.’
It comes after the former master of the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, Professor Chris Fitzpatrick, criticised the Government last week for what he described as its ‘frenzied attempt to meet a dangerously unrealistic deadline’.
Writing in The Irish Times, he said that if the service is ‘rushed into operation on January 1 as scheduled’, it will ‘pose a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of women’.
However, Mr Harris pointed out that the Department of Health and the Irish Medical Organisation have agreed a
‘Eager to hear concerns’
contract for GPs willing to provide the service.
The Department has also issued a notification to the HSE stating the service should be available in all 19 maternity units ‘from the outset’, and has sought plans from each hospital group to have a strategy in place ‘from January 1’.
The drafting of clinical guidelines is at an advanced stage, Mr Harris said.
‘The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Irish College of General Practitioners are writing them. I have no role in this process,’ the Minister said.
It is expected an outline of the guidelines will be provided at today’s meeting. Current Medical Council ethical guidelines will remain in place until new ones are completed.
The helpline for women in crisis pregnancies will be established from January, Mr Harris added.
The HSE has appointed Dr Peter Boylan to oversee the implementation of abortion services. Meanwhile, the Termination of Pregnancy Bill is before the Seanad this week.
The legislation is due to pass before the House rises for the Christmas recess next week.