As the Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution prepares to hear a report on the submissions on the Green Paper on Abortion later this week, it appears it may at last receive the assistance of obstetricians and gynaecologists.
The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is seeking the views of all its members on a letter to the chairman of the committee, Mr Brian Lenihan.
Yesterday the Master of the Rotunda hospital, Dr Peter McKenna, repeated a claim he made a year and a half ago to The Irish Times, that pregnancies are terminated in Irish hospitals in the rare circumstances where the life of the mother is threatened by them.
These included a molar pregnancy, where a tumour developed on the afterbirth alongside a healthy foetus.
The Green Paper has expressed concern that a total constitutional ban might outlaw a number of obstetrical procedures which involve abortion to save the life of the mother, where her health is endangered by the continuation of the pregnancy.
Despite the fact that this is all covered by the ethical guidelines of the Medical Council, many obstetricians are concerned that their freedom to pursue their clinical judgment should not be compromised by a constitutional amendment.
In July 1998 Dr McKenna rejected the claim by antiabortion lobbyists that a doctor's decision to perform an abortion in the circumstances he outlines would never be questioned. "All it needs is one individual in the hospital to pick up the phone and report it to the gardai, and I don't think the gardai would be in a position to refuse to investigate it," he said at the time.
He told The Irish Times yesterday that since he had given this interview, a scientific conference of the Irish Prenatal Society in Drogheda had heard a report of two similar situations in other Irish hospitals, with similar outcomes.
Meanwhile, the abortion issue has been given a renewed sense of urgency for the Government with the approach of the deadline of the end of March set by the Wicklow Independent TD, Ms Mildred Fox, for movement on the subject.
Ms Fox told The Irish Times last August that should the Government decide "to go the legislative route on abortion", she would withdraw her support immediately. She repeated her threat in several newspapers yesterday.
None of other three independents supporting the coalition, Mr Jackie Healy-Rae, Mr Tom Gildea and Mr Harry Blaney, has supported the March deadline. However, Mr Gildea and Mr Blaney have joined with Ms Fox is seeking an early referendum. ail-Progressive Democrat Government has 80 Dail seats and requires the support of at least three other TDs to have a Dail majority. Should the March deadline pass without Ms Fox securing her demands, the withdrawal of her support would be unlikely to seriously destabilise the Government in the short term.
During the 1997 general election, the Taoiseach pledged to consult the electorate when dealing with the abortion issue. However, the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has already stated her opposition to another referendum.
The Labour Party spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz MacManus, said yesterday that Dr McKenna's comments highlighted the unacceptability of having a constitutional ban on abortion in the State.
"Dr McKenna's statement gives the lie to the view that such medical procedures are never necessary. It challenges the belief that an absolute ban on medical intervention can be put in the Constitution," she said.
The Labour Party, which has rejected calls for another constitutional referendum on abortion, favours the introduction of legislation to address the issues raised in the Supreme Court ruling in the X case.
Carol Coulter can be contacted at ccoulter@irish-times.ie
Kevin Rafter can be contacted at krafter@irish-times.ie