A former Master of the National Maternity hospital says the church needs to back off and leave the medical care of Irish women to doctors.
Consultant Obstetrician Peter Boylan was reacting to comments by Father Kevin Doran in the Irish Times today in which he says the Mater hospital "cannot comply" with with the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act.
Father Doran is on the hospital's board of governors. He says the Mater cannot carry out abortions because it goes against its Catholic ethos.
Fr. Kevin Doran is on the board of the Mater Hospital
The Mater is not a maternity hospital, but it is one of the 25 "appropriate institutions" named in the the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act where abortions may be carried out to save the life of a pregnant woman.
Consultant Obstetrician and former Master of the National Maternity Hospital Peter Boylan says the church needs to back off.
He says Ireland needs to move on from interference by the church in the medical care of women.
