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Doctor Protests New Irish “Ethical” Guidelines for Aborting Babies : 28th Jan 10
Doctor Protests New Irish “Ethical” Guidelines for Aborting Babies
A Waterford doctor has criticised a recent ethical guide from the Irish Medical Council, calling its sentiments on abortion “immoral”. Dr James Stacey of Dungarvan said he was waiving his anonymity in order to take a stand against “the tendency nowadays to allow secular principles to pervade society”.
The revised guide to professional conduct and ethics for doctors says it’s legal to abort a baby where there’s (purportedly) “a real and substantial risk” to the mother’s life, including from suicide. “I’m straight down the centre and I don’t agree with abortion under any circumstances”, the doctor declared.
“The guide’s views are immoral and I cannot subscribe to them. Alone I cannot make much difference, but if enough people agree with me, then we can stand up and be counted”.
As a first step, he suggested that the Medical Council remove “ethical” from the guidelines’ title: “What is permitted in law is not necessarily ethical. It’s time we separated these two positions”.
John Smith of the Pro-Life Campaign said it’s the diction of the booklet that presents the biggest problem: “We share these concerns in that the guide could have been worded better, but we’re satisfied that the Medical Council did not intend to change its stance on abortion. It still refers to a ‘duty of care’ to protect the life of the unborn”.
Responding to the doctor’s call, the Medical Council said the guide “clearly sets out the framework within which abortions may lawfully be carried out in the State and will be of assistance to all registered medical practitioners, and in particular those who may be recent graduates or who may have graduated outside of Ireland”. The Irish Catholic. January 14.
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