Abortion service demanded

THE Alliance for Choice group has written to political leaders saying the electorate had refused to limit the X case judgment…

THE Alliance for Choice group has written to political leaders saying the electorate had refused to limit the X case judgment in the 1992 referendum.

This empowers and obliges you to rise above the tactics of those who oppose the judgment and deal with this issue just as you would any other question of health service provision," the letter states.

The group, an umbrella organisation for organisations and individuals concerned with full reproductive rights, has called for statutory guidelines requiring health boards to provide an abortion service in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment in the X case.

Political leaders had to recognise they had "a longstanding moral obligation to deal with the abortion issue", a spokeswoman, Ms Ailbhe Smyth, yesterday.

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"By their inaction, politicians have shown scant regard for the equal right to life of women as enshrined in the Irish Constitution in 1983," she claimed.

The ProLife Campaign condemned the alliance's "new campaign for abortion", coming on the day an opinion poll showed 72 per cent of Irish people opposed legislation for abortion in all circumstances and 62 per cent wanted to decide the question by referendum.

"Clearly, public opposition to abortion does not concern those who wish to see abortion clinics operating in every health board area," a spokesman said.