A week on from vote – and no easy answers on provision of services
DOCTORS who facilitate abortions should not have their names or practices placed on any register in case it attracts threats or protests from ‘zealots’, medical professionals have urged.
Dr Andrew Jordan, head of the National Association of General Practitioners (NAGP), told the Irish Mail on Sunday that this and other issues, including the prospect of higher insurance premiums for GPs who participate in a GP-led abortion scheme, will be addressed at its EGM on Saturday next, June 9, in Portlaoise, two weeks after the landmark vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment in the Constitution. ‘There are a lot of very divergent views being raised, which need to be teased out. Most negative feedback received is on the back of the desperate state that the GP practice has been left in.
In general, GPs have had it with the State and feel that they have been let down. Constant talks about new contracts have come to absolutely nothing,’ Dr Jordan told the Mo S.
Dr Jordan said they have had no talks to date with Health Minister Simon Harris on the provision of a GP-led scheme, and said the proposed date of January 1 next for such a service appears ‘overly enthusiastic’ at this time.
However, he urged that ‘people in crisis in the short-term should be facilitated’.
‘There is a lot of angst coming to the fore amongst GPs. The majority of GPs are against any register which highlights them as facilitating abortions in case they are targeted by zealots, or in case people would shy away from their practice,’ he said.
A spokesperson for the Irish Medical Organisation said they too are awaiting proposals on the facilitation of abortion in Ireland.
Dr Mark Murphy, spokesperson for Together For Yes, appealed for ‘calm’ and for ‘space and time for policy-makers to draft and outline evidence-based and appropriate care pathways for the Irish context, which will be to the benefit of women and doctors’.
The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) and the Well Woman Centre in Dublin confirmed yesterday they have offered to provide abortion services once legislation is passed, and are in favour of a free service.
The IFPA has centres in Cork, Dublin city centre, Tallaght, Dundalk, Galway, Gorey, Letterkenny, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford.
In relation to the possibility of ‘exclusion zones’ around abortion centres, to prevent protesters from gathering, or a register of GPs facilitating the service, Dr Murphy urged that legislation should protect women and practitioners. He said the wishes of conscientious objectors also have to be respected.
Dr Deirdre Gleeson of Doctors For Life, which saw 200 GPs call for a No vote, told the Mo S that she is prepared to lose her practice as a GP if she is compelled to facilitate abortions, or even refer patients to another doctor for an abortion pill.
Dr Gleeson said she believes up to a third of doctors in the country, who have been left ‘heartbroken’ by the referendum, are not prepared to facilitate abortions. ‘We’re not an insignificant minority,’ she said.
Dr Gleeson, who is not opposed to the morning-after pill, said she would rather abortion clinics be established ‘as the average GP won’t have the time or resources to do it’.