Bishops ask Cura not to distribute leaflet that has details of agencies which supply abortion information.Bishops conference
Patsy McGarry
There may be funding implications for the Catholic pregnancy counselling agency Cura if "there is not a referral system in place for all the needs of the women concerned", the chairwoman of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) Olive Braiden has said.
She was speaking following the announcement at a press conference in Maynooth yesterday that the Catholic bishops had requested the national executive council of Cura to end the policy of offering the CPA Positive Options leaflet to women who seek help.
The bishops asked Cura to raise with the CPA concerns that it contained details of agencies which supply abortion information.
Expressing disappointment at the bishops' decision, Progressive Democrat TD Fiona O'Malley said it would "cause confusion and add to the distress for many women".
Cura receives €654,000 annually from the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. Its contract with the State-funded agency is not due to expire until December 2006.
The CPA Positive Options leaflet lists nine State-funded Irish agencies which offer help to women experiencing crisis pregnancies. Cura is one of the agencies. It also details supports provided by the agencies, which range from counselling to help with financial, accommodation and welfare issues.
The bishops' decision follows recent controversy in Cura over the leaflet which led to the national executive council dismissing four volunteers in Donegal who had raised concerns about the abortion information available from agencies listed in the leaflet.
Ms Braiden said last night she understood a meeting between the CPA and Cura would take place next week. She said it was the CPA ethos to have the woman at the centre of what it did and it was important such a woman got an opportunity to consider all the information before making a decision. The CPA's role was to make options other than abortion more attractive, she said.
Answering questions at yesterday's press conference, which followed the summer meeting of the Irish Episcopal Conference, Cura's director Bishop John Fleming warmly praised the CPA and said that Cura's dealings with it over the past two years had been "very cordial, very professional".
"We genuinely appreciate the relationship we have with the CPA," he said. He also praised the work of Cura volunteers.
He said that handing out the Positive Options leaflet "was a complex moral issue and not just a black-and-white matter". He pointed out that in a crisis pregnancy, a woman's ability to decide could be circumscribed and she may decide to reject parenthood or adoption. The question then was what to do so she didn't make a decision she might regret, he said.
It was a matter of slowing the decision-making process down so she could make a better decision.
In that context, handing out the leaflet detailing all agencies who were legally bound to present options other than abortion, had a role, he indicated.
He said he was a member of the NEC which had dismissed the four Cura volunteers.
The Irish Family Planning Association described the bishops' decision as "extremely disappointing" while the Pro-Life Campaign said the CPA urgently needed "root and branch reform".