The Pro-Life Campaign (PLC) has criticised the stance of the Adelaide Hospital Society on abortion as "completely inappropriate." The Pro-Choice Campaign, on the other hand, has welcomed it, saying abortion should be seen as a medical rather than a moral issue.
Commenting on the Adelaide's position that the new hospital at Tallaght should offer abortion when medically indicated, in accordance with the law, Mr Denis Murphy, a spokesman for the PLC, said: "Abortion is never needed as a medical treatment.
"There is always an alternative which does not result in the death of an unborn child. This is a recognised fact in Irish medical practice, and reflected in ethics governing the profession.
"The Taoiseach has said that there will be a referendum on abortion after the present process of consultation. The Pro-Life Campaign will be supporting a complete prohibition on abortion, and is optimistic that that position will be endorsed by the electorate."
The Adelaide's position was put in its submission to the Working Party on Abortion, which is due to produce a draft Green Paper next month.
In its submission to the working party, the PLC put the case for a total ban on abortion, to be established through a new amendment to the Constitution. It said this could be done by the addition of a sentence to Article 40.3.3 along the lines: "No law shall be enacted, and no provision of the Constitution shall be interpreted, to render induced abortion lawful in the State."
The PLC also suggested an alternative additional sentence to this Article which would say: "It shall be unlawful to terminate the life of an unborn unless such termination is the unsought side-effect of medical treatment necessary to save the life of the mother giving rise to a real and substantial risk to her life."
Much of its submission is devoted to contesting the view that there are any circumstances in which there is a real risk of suicide to a woman with an unwanted pregnancy, or a real threat to her life from a medical condition, which would be corrected by direct abortion.
The submission also expresses concern at developments in Europe. It says they might lead to the European Convention on Human Rights being interpreted as including a right to abortion, or European law might develop in such a way as to lead to pressure on Ireland to introduce abortion.
The PLC stresses that its concerns are based on the principle of the equal dignity of all human beings, irrespective of "their possessing other qualifications of size, physical, emotional or mental capacity, autonomy or dependence, level of bodily, emotional or mental development, race, ethnic origin, wealth or poverty, age, sex or capacity for interpersonal relationship."
The anti-abortion group, Family and Life, is also focusing its attention on an expected referendum. "All the preparatory work for a referendum is in place," said Mr Peter Scully on behalf of the group. "The Government must give people a proper referendum and the people must be informed of the issues."
He said he expected 90 per cent of the submissions to the working group to be against any legalisation of abortion.