Bishop: Some victims have told me 'abortion is far worse than rape'

A Catholic bishop has claimed that abortion is more traumatic than rape for some women.

Dermot Farrell, the Bishop of Ossory has criticised men who abandon their child's mother during pregnancy - saying their actions encourage a woman to seek an abortion.

But he also says termination has an impact.

Bishop Farrell said: "First of all rape is a violent act and a violent crime against a woman, a terrible crime.

"And sometimes, what I understand from women who have been raped, is that the abortion that followed sometimes after rape was far worse than the rape itself."

The Bishop spoke about abortion on his first day in office, describing as “paradoxical and in some ways the ultimate delusion” the proposal to “extinguish” the right to life of a child, the Irish Examiner reported.

Speaking on abortion last March, he said: "There is no such thing as a human life that has no value.

"However, it is paradoxical and in some ways the ultimate delusion, to extinguish the most fundamental right of all, the right to life of the innocent child, in the name of personal and civil rights."