The Minister for Health has said he does not want various groups "going to the final fence immediately" on the abortion issue until they have examined the forthcoming Green Paper in full.
Mr Cowen said yesterday that the Green Paper would not put forward any particular position but would outline all the options on abortion: "the ABCs from A to Z".
"Let's have a proper discussion on it without people saying it has to be this way or that way. What I am trying to achieve is that we have a debate so that when the Green Paper is issued people do not immediately go to the final fence. That is what a Green Paper is about. It is to remind people what the issues are, what the question is before they give the answer," Mr Cowen told The Irish Times.
He was speaking following a report in yesterday's Sunday Business Post which stated that six broad options, ranging from a total ban on abortion by way of a new constitutional referendum to a liberal abortion regime were included in the "working document" that will form the basis of the Green Paper.
A total ban would be included in the Constitution by way of another referendum. However, the paper says that such a ban would have immediate implications for the existing medical treatment of women and could rule out interventions to save the life of the mother.
A further option would involve a restricted application of the X case, to exclude suicide. This would effectively return to the formula put to the electorate in 1992. Another option is to allow the status quo to remain, allowing the courts to determine how individual cases should be handled.
Another option under discussion involves legislation as defined in the X case, permitting abortion where there is a threat to the life of the mother, including the risk of suicide. The working paper explores a fifth option of returning to the pre-1983 situation when the original amendment outlawing abortion was overwhelmingly passed in a referendum.
The final option discusses a liberal abortion regime where women would have access to pregnancy termination in other than the X case and C case situations.
Mr Cowen said he was not up to date at present with what was contained in the working document as it was being put together by the inter-departmental group. A number of people had worked on different aspects and these were now being put together. There was also input from the Attorney General which had to be incorporated into the document.
Mr Cowen said once he had received the document "put together in some sort of style" it would go to Government subcommittee. From there it would go to Cabinet, where after approval the Green Paper would be published. It would also be presented to the All-Party Committee on the Constitution.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has indicated that the Green Paper may be published in September, but Mr Cowen said yesterday that it may be sooner than that.