MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - Irish women can be denied abortion even if they are at risk of suicide, the Irish Department of Health’s guidelines for doctors, obtained by The Guardian, said.
The document named “Implementation of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act 2013” contains instructions for health professionals, describing the treatment of abortion cases, The Guardian reported.
The 108-page document has not been officially released yet and is waiting to be approved by newly-appointed Irish Health Minister Leo Varadkar.
In particular, the document includes the description of a complicated procedure a woman willing to perform an abortion will have to undergo. First, the agreement of the family therapist is required, who then refers the case to three more medics, two psychiatrists and an obstetrician, who will finally assess whether the woman’s is at risk of suicide According to the guidelines, a woman also has the right to appeal, which another commission of three would assess.
Professor of psychiatry Veronica O’Keane has referred to the procedure as a “lottery,” and called the guidelines “completely inappropriate.”
“In these guidelines, what we are actually doing is saying to Irish women, 'You have to actually tell us that you're going to kill yourself or you won't get that abortion.' It is completely contrary to good psychiatric practice," O’Keane told The Guardian.
Pro-abortion advocates have been campaigning for the convention of independent commissions, rather than those composed of local medics, to make decisions on abortion issues. However, the document has no indications of that.
Last year, the Irish government introduced a law allowing women to terminate pregnancy only if she risked death, which includes suicide. The country has held five referendums on the issue over the last 30 years.
