Hospitals receive abortion warning

Hospitals which refuse to carry out abortions to save women’s lives because of their religious ethos could face the withdrawal of State funding, the health minister has warned.

A spokesperson for James Reilly said he would await the decision of the board of the Mater Hospital who will meet in the coming weeks to discuss whether to abide by the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act.

He said comments by a priest on the board, Father Kevin Doran, that the hospital “cannot comply” with the new laws, were made in a personal capacity.