Civil liberties group urges minister to introduce safe access zones for abortion services
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has written to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly calling on him to follow through on his stated commitment to introduce safe access zones around abortion services.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has written to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly calling on him to follow through on his stated commitment to introduce safe access zones around abortion services.
The ICCL with Together for Safety has said everyone has a right to access healthcare safely, with dignity, and in privacy.
"We very much appreciate the legal difficulties involved in creating safe access zones in a way that properly respects the right to protest.Â
"However, we believe that the right to safe, private and dignified access to healthcare must also be protected," the ICCL wrote in its letter to Mr Donnelly, adding it was willing to meet with him to discuss the introduction of safe access zones.
"We consider that fulfilling this right can constitute a legitimate aim that would justify narrow, targeted and clearly defined limits on protest in the healthcare context, as demonstrably necessary and proportionate measures to protect the rights of patients and providers."
Meanwhile, a senator has lodged a formal complaint with Maynooth University over an academic project which aims to gather information on anti-abortion protests outside GP clinics, hospitals and other healthcare centres.
It comes after the Department of Health claimed there had been "limited number of reports of protests", which a spokesperson said was "an extremely positive development".
However, campaigners and GPs have reported an increase in the number of protests outside healthcare facilities in recent times with the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.Â
They are calling for the introduction of safe access zones to protect patients and staff, which had been promised in the wake of the historic referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
Senator Rónán Mullen has now written to the university raising concerns around work being conducted to gather information on protests across the country and has also taken aim at the language used in a questionnaire to healthcare workers being undertaken in association with the Together for Safety Campaign.
"I have sent a letter to NUI Maynooth, I am certainly concerned about the university associating with research that seems to be in pursuit of a nakedly political objective of a one-sided nature that you don't associate with universities," he told the .
He said the language used in the questionnaire to healthcare staff including use of the term anti-choice which, he said, "suggests it's really about pursuing one side of a political argument".
However, NUI Maynooth said it strongly believed the principle of academic freedom was essential, adding all proper procedures had been followed in conducting the work.
A spokesperson said it was a "fundamental value" of the university that individual academics are free to "conduct research, express opinions, and adopt and pursue political positions without limitation, other than procedures to ensure that research is ethically sound and does not present any risk of harm to research participants".Â
They added that all of these procedures were followed in this case.
"It is common practice for researchers, especially in the social sciences, to conduct research in partnership with civil society, non-governmental and political organisations, and sometimes for such research to be conducted to inform a movement, campaign or organisation with overtly political aims or objectives."
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