The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, should urgently produce a strategy aimed at reducing the number of crisis pregnancies, the Democratic Left spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz McManus, said last night.
Improved information about and access to contraception, coupled with a more forthright approach to education about sexuality and personal responsibility would help reduce the number of abortions, said Ms McManus. Such a strategy had been successful in the Netherlands.
"The steadily increasing number of women having terminations shows that Irish attitudes to abortion are changing. It would be far more honest for us to face the problem and stop relying on Britain to solve our social problems for us.
"We need to learn from the experience of other countries in reducing the number of crisis pregnancies, but the provision of abortion in clearly defined circumstances in publicly funded hospital in this country must also be part of the solution. The objective in regard to abortion must be to make it safe, legal and rare."