A comprehensive health service for women, including abortion where medically indicated and in line with the X case judgment, should be available in the new hospital in Tallaght, says the Adelaide Hospital Society. The society is one of three charitable organisations involved in managing the hospital complex.
The proposals come in the society's submission to the Working Group on Abortion, set up by the Department of Health to consider all aspects of legislation on the subject, seek submissions and prepare a Green Paper on options available.
The submission also proposes legislation for abortion in line with the Supreme Court X case judgment. This ruled abortion in Ireland was constitutional where the mother's life was in danger. This should be medically defined, the Adelaide Society states.
An upper gestation limit of eight weeks should be set, it says. The society is also seeking a comprehensive network of clinics throughout the State to deal with all aspects of crisis pregnancies, including abortion.
Over 2,000 submissions were received by the working group by the closing date at the end of February this year. The expected date for the group to complete the Green Paper is June. It will then be referred to the All-Party Committee on the Constitution and will eventually lead to a White Paper.
The Adelaide joins the Irish Family Planning Association in its view that abortion should be treated as a women's health issue. The IFPA has also made a submission urging abortion be removed from the criminal law and constitutional provision.
In its submission, the Adelaide acknowledges the abortion issue is complex and highly emotional. "The Adelaide Hospital Society, as a Christian charitable organisation, is committed to the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person," it states.
"We believe that a Christian and caring approach is one that provides the very best healthcare for everyone, including citizens who have made choices which others believe to be detrimental to their human dignity or to their health.
"We have to recognise that all abortions are due to unwanted pregnancies and that unwanted pregnancies are due to a failure of some kind. These failures, if properly addressed, should reduce unwanted pregnancies and thus the tragedies involved in terminations of pregnancy."
Among the measures it proposes to address the issue of unwanted pregnancy is an information module on contraception as part of the Relationships and Sexuality (RSE) programme in schools. This should include post-coital contraception and should be combined with comprehensive and accessible contraceptive provision for adolescents.
It cites the Netherlands as a state in which demand for abortion was greatly reduced by education in, and the provision of, contraception.
Where Irish women do seek abortions, comprehensive, non-directional counselling and medical screening should be available, the submission says. This should extend to post-abortion medical examinations and counselling to deal with the risk of post-abortion infection and infertility.
There should be a network of clinics providing this service, and termination of pregnancy for those who opted for it, following legislation, it says.
The Government should tackle the unsatisfactory situation arising out of the judgments in the X and C cases, by legislating to clarify the medical indications and to set an upper gestational limit. It also calls for consideration of the issue of the normality or otherwise of the foetus.
The submission objects to the use of the term "unborn" in the debate, saying that it is an adjective, not a noun.