The All-Party Committee on the Constitution received 105,000 submissions in response to newspaper advertisements on the seven options for dealing with abortion outlined in the Green Paper on Abortion.
The Irish Times has seen the catalogue of the submissions, which was presented this week to the committee members. It notes that the majority of the submissions were received from individuals seeking another constitutional referendum.
In its first formal contribution to the abortion debate in Ireland, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said it would be better for women who seek to end unwanted pregnancies if they had access to abortion services in the Republic. The BPAS carried out abortions on 2,504 women giving Irish addresses in 1998.
About 30 organisations argued for Option One in the Green Paper - a constitutional ban on abortion. The Pro-Life Campaign argued in its submission that a complete constitutional ban on induced abortion is "the just and workable solution".
However, it stated, "pregnant women are perfectly entitled to receive all necessary medical treatment even where this detrimentally affects the unborn as an unintended side-effect."
The Irish Bishops' Conference said: "No court judgment, no act of legislation, can make abortion morally right."
Youth Defence ail ardfheis earlier this month, observed: "The question before us is whether we are willing to walk the road to the death culture . . . that we are willing to let loose the madness of abortion which reaches into the womb to tear limb-from-limb a living baby."
Mr Rory O'Hanlon SC, in his submission, described the Supreme Court ruling in the X case - and the amendments on travel and information passed in 1992 - as a "series of aberrations which are in open conflict with the whole text and Christian philosophy of the remainder of the Constitution."
About 20 organisations made submissions in favour of options in the Green Paper other than an outright constitutional ban.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions argued for the enactment of legislation to give effect to the decision of the Supreme Court in the X case, to ensure that where there was a real and substantive risk to the life of the mother facilities to terminate pregnancies legally would be available in this jurisdiction.
The Adelaide Hospital Society said it supported option five in the Green Paper, for legislation to regulate abortion in circumstances defined by the X case. The society observed that the development of a comprehensive healthcare service for women offered "the best prospect of both reducing the unacceptably high rate of Irish abortions and of providing the optimum healthcare for Irish women".
The TCD Senator, Ms Mary Henry, criticised the Green Paper for not providing a definition of abortion, but noted that it was "not possible to have an absolute ban on abortion."
The Women's Health Council, a statutory body established in 1997 to advise the Minister for Health on all aspects of women's health, recommended the development of a 10-year strategy to reduce the abortion rate.
The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists noted "the strong view" that any proposed legislative or constitutional changes must not render illegal currently accepted medical practice such as post-coital contraception.