Pro-life groups ‘not opposed’ to abortion law, as long as it’s realistic

A leading pro-life doctor has said she is not necessarily opposed to legislation ensuring a pregnant woman receives any treatment she needs — so long as it is “captured in reality”.

Dr Berry Kiely, medical adviser to the Pro-Life Campaign, told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland while it was impossible in her view to legislate for every eventuality, pro-life groups are not necessarily against new bills being passed. “There are grey areas in all areas of medicine,” she said.

The physician continued that it would be “a crazy, ridiculous situation to try and have a legal system that would address each and every possible permutation and combination of factors in any one given case”.

However, when asked to comment on recent remarks by Government ministers on the need for “legal clarity”, she said: “Until you see what’s proposed you really can’t pre-empt it and say you would oppose it.

“If its something that’s going to genuinely be helpful, if it’s something that’s going to clarify for everybody who’s confused, then wonderful. So long as it’s something that clearly states everything possible should be done in this situation to save the life of the mother and everything than can be done is done to save the life of the baby. So long as we reflect the fact that we have a duty of care [to the mother and the foetus], but that’s what’s always absent in abortion legislation.”

Dr Kiely said in her view “the problem with abortion legislation is that it allows for the direct, intentional killing of the unborn”, a situation she said is “never required in medical practice”.

The comment was made after India’s ambassador to Ireland, Debashish Chakravarti, said he could not say for definite whether Savita would have been given a medical termination if she had been treated in an Indian hospital.