Access to abortion in Ireland still depends on doctors’ daily moral courage

Doctors reassuring the public of clinical independence at the new National Maternity Hospital are obliged to take women's concerns seriously — the recent past should be enough evidence for anyone 

Protesters campaigning against the Catholic Church owning the new National Maternity Hospital protesting outside Leinster House in Dublin last month. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Public disquiet over Catholic influence on reproductive healthcare is at the heart of the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) dispute.

On one side, Ministers, hospital consultants and St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG) maintain that religious medical ethics and institutional ethos can be constrained by company law.