A DUBLIN woman has made a complaint to the Garda against a clinic in which, she alleges, an abortion was carried out on her two years ago.
A senior member of staff has been interviewed and the clinic searched by gardai as part of the investigation into the complaint. A file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions shortly, according to Garda sources.
The Garda Press Office yesterday confirmed that such a complaint had been made and was being investigated.
The woman claims she went to the clinic in 1995. She told gardai she was offered a choice of referral to an abortion clinic in the UK or an abortion in Dublin. She alleges the operation, which was carried out with her consent in Dublin, led to medical complications.
The woman attended another doctor because of these complications. This doctor has made a statement to the Garda investigating the allegation, saying that the operation was performed in a way that was injurious to the woman's health.
It is understood the file to the DPP will say the woman claimed the operation cost £120.
The woman made her complaint to the Garda in Dublin last month. The Garda secured a search warrant and the premises were searched. Sources involved in the investigation said certain gynaecological instruments were found.
A staff member at the clinic was asked by the gardai if the clinic had performed an abortion on the woman. The staff member said there was no recollection of the name given and, after consultations with a legal adviser, said no further comment would be made.
The Irish Times contacted the staff member and was referred to the clinic's solicitors. "The company is making no comment about this matter," the member said. The clinic's solicitor took instructions from his client and yesterday confirmed to The Irish Times that it had been decided to make no comment.
The law on abortion in Ireland is unclear. The Supreme Court has ruled that an abortion is legal if there is a danger to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother, a decision which arose from the X case.
In May 1995, the Supreme Court ruled that the Abortion Information Bill was notre pugnant to the Constitution.
It reaffirmed the X case judgment that the termination of the life of the unborn was permissible if it was established as a matter of probability that there was a real and substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother and that such a risk could be avoided only by the termination of pregnancy.
The court also clarified the legality of providing information on services outside the State, following successive court injunctions in the previous 10 years which prevented the supply of such information.
The court also found that doctors could communicate in the normal way with a doctor in an abortion clinic abroad once an appointment for an abortion had been made.
The Pro Life Campaign at that time expressed "dismay" at the Supreme Court judgment. The campaign claimed that the court had given its blessing to a "blatant contradiction" in the law, namely, that while the unborn child was to be protected against abortion, the destruction of its life could be facilitated as long as it took place outside the jurisdiction.