Anti Abortion Doctors in Ireland Have Fewer Options



Ireland has often been thought of as the marque Catholic country in Europe. Catholic hierarchy were thought to run most aspects of the country including its politics. All that has changed within recent years. Church attendance has plummeted. The biggest finger in the eye of Catholic hierarchy was a recent vote to make abortion legal in the country.

Since the vote, government officials have been preparing for the change. One aspect is the rights of doctors who have a religious hang up with abortion. Can they refuse requests for abortion services? If they refuse to perform abortions can they also refuse to find the service for the patient?

The Minister of health has determined doctors who object to abortion can refuse to perform the service but cannot turn a patient away until she is in the care of a doctor who will provide the abortion. That is, the doctor who refuses is still obligated to care for the patient.

I'm sure this will be a hard pill to shallow for some know-it-all religious doctors. Arranging for an abortion must be almost as bad a "sin" as doing it yourself.

Even this accommodation, however, may not be a good solution in rural areas of the country. If there is only one doctor in a community and another is a long bus ride away the service will be difficult to obtain.

The "new" Ireland, nevertheless, with the power of women voters is exciting to watch. When a large majority of women speak with one voice it is impossible to ignore.

Comments

  1. tsmDecember 10, 2018 at 4:52 PM

    We get the picture Jon: loud and clear. Let's use the force of the state to ensure that docs with an abortion "hangup" (as you so cavalierly put it) get into line. A little whiff of leftist tolerance here, I assume. And maybe a term that I have used before: Bolshevik mentality. BTW, referring for an abortion makes one an accessory to a wrongful act, kinda like helping a bank robber crack the safe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jon LindgrenDecember 10, 2018 at 5:04 PM

    If a person has a hang up with abortion he/she might consider some other profession.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more