IFPA asks how soon problem will finally be confronted

There was a general welcome for the Green Paper from pro-choice advocates yesterday. The document should, they urged, be used as the basis for a rational national debate on abortion.

But the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), noting that there have been 40,000 Irish abortions since the X case in 1992, asked how many more such abortions would happen before the issue was finally confronted.

The Dublin Abortion Rights Group (DARG) said the Green Paper was a "thoughtful, responsible and considered" document and particularly welcomed the fact that the options set out included abortion on request, Option 7 (e).

Ms Ivana Bacik, a spokeswoman for DARG, said: "It's a very good document although we have been waiting a long time for it." She said those advocating a constitutional ban on abortion would be wise to read the section in the Green Paper which discussed that option and, in particular, its statement that the medical evidence was not clear regarding direct abortion.

Ms Bacik said DARG would continue to campaign for legislation implementing the Supreme Court judgment in the X case "as a minimum". The group's ultimate goal was to secure free, safe and legal abortion in Ireland.

The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) said publication of the "long-awaited" Green Paper "offered some prospect of a considered discussion on this contentious issue."

It welcomed "the fact that the Government has tacitly recognised that abortion is a far more complex issue than previous black-and-white debates have suggested."

The association said an element of "antidemocratic extremist intolerance has crept into the Irish abortion debate" and complained that, "fuelled with ideas and funding from the US, small groups of unrepresentative anti-abortion extremists have sought to intimidate some of those who made submissions to the Abortion Working Group which disagreed with their own views.

"It is important, therefore, that the debate on the Green Paper is conducted under better democratic circumstances than those in which it has been awaited."

The IFPA's chief executive, Mr Tony O'Brien, said it would study "this important document carefully before commenting in detail on its content." He looked forward to a mature discussion on the range of options set out.

"It is important this discussion is not allowed to distract from concrete measures to tackle unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease and inadequacy of services. Such issues must be dealt with whatever way the abortion issue is finally resolved."

Mr O'Brien said there have been at least 40,000 Irish abortions since the X case.

"Since this Green Paper was first mooted, we estimate that there have been about 10,000 Irish abortions. There is a danger that the Green Paper will be now let gather dust. How many more Irish abortions will there be before we face up to the reality and take positive action to address it?"

Dr Shirley McQuade, medical director of the Well Woman Centres, said she was pleased that the Green Paper, at 172 pages, was such a long document and appeared to address a lot of the issues.

She hoped the document would provide the framework for a wide-ranging discussion on a subject which needed to be discussed. Two referendums had failed to resolve the abortion argument and it required resolution.

While the matter required a proper debate, Dr McQuade said, the Well Woman Centres would be anxious that the Government put some time scale on developments. "Otherwise, things could slide," she said.

No representative of the Medical Council was available for comment.

Ms Maria Murphy, spokeswoman for the Irish Medical Organisation, said its formal policy, as passed by its annual general meeting, was against abortion. She expected the Green Paper would be considered by the IMO and a formal response issued in due course.

A referendum will not prevent a single woman from having an abortion, Ms Noreen Byrne, chairwoman of the National Women's Council, said yesterday. "We are dismayed at the apparent commitment from the Taoiseach to hold another abortion referendum.

"The enacting of a comprehensive reproductive health policy for women which includes support for women with crisis pregnancies would much more effectively meet the needs of women," she added.

Irish people now realised the need for abortion to be legalised in Ireland, said Abortion Reform in a statement. "We call upon the Government to adopt one of the Working Group options for the legalisation of abortion as a matter of urgency.

"We believe that a referendum designed to bring about a complete ban on abortion would be both ill-judged and futile. Such a proposal would ultimately require Irish people to disregard the right to life of the pregnant woman," it said.