TRÓCAIRE HAS asked to be removed from a list of organisations appearing to endorse a report that claims the State interferes with women’s rights by restricting abortion.
The development charity is a member of Dóchas, one of 18 organisations behind the “Your Rights. Right Now” report which has been submitted to the United Nations as part of a human rights review process.
A spokeswoman for Trócaire said the Dóchas submission to the report sought a commitment to Ireland achieving 0.7 per cent of GDP for overseas aid by 2015. Dóchas is a network of organisations working in international development and humanitarian relief.
“As an agency of the Bishops Conference, Trócaire complies with the teachings of the Catholic Church. While happy as a member of Dóchas to see a recommendation relating to the UN target of 0.7 per cent included in the report, Trócaire has not in its own right considered or endorsed any aspect of this report,” she said.
The spokeswoman confirmed that Trócaire had sought successfully to have the charity’s name removed from the list of organisations appearing under the headline “Endorse the Report” on the website where the report was published earlier this week.
The report was unveiled by Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health Kathleen Lynch. It called for the immediate enactment of legislation “to clarify the circumstances under which an abortion may be lawful”.
A spokeswoman for the “Your Rights. Right Now” campaign said it had worked in consultation with civil society across the country to “benchmark” how Ireland was meeting its international human rights obligations. “All of the views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the policies and positions of each endorsing organisation,” she added.
The report stated that “criminalisation of abortion means that safe and legal terminations are inaccessible in Ireland for all women and girls”.
