Greg Daly
Five of Ireland’s most eminent obstetricians and gynaecologists have said they are “horrified” by comments made in recent days by Drs Peter Boylan and Rhona Mahony, and said it is “deeply regrettable” that some campaigners have sought to foster needless fears among voters around issues of maternal health.
In a letter provided to the Save the 8th campaign, Professor John Bonnar, Dr Eamon McGuinness, Dr James Clinch, Dr Conor Carr, and Dr Michael O’Hare call on Drs Boylan and Mahony to withdraw comments they made in a video for Together for Yes.
Commenting on the video, in which Dr Mahony states “In Ireland today, we play medical roulette with women’s lives” and Dr Boylan claims the Eighth Amendment “makes it difficult for us to treat women with compassion and give them the proper care that they need”, the five obstetricians say: “These comments are simply not true and are nothing less than a serious misrepresentation of the Irish maternal health system. We call on them to withdraw these statements.”
Prof. Bonnar, Dr McGuinness, Dr Carr and Dr Clinch are all former Chairmen of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, while Dr O’Hare heads the HSE working group on maternal mortality.
The obstetricians describe themselves as “horrified at some of the statements made by colleagues during this referendum campaign in relation to maternal care in Ireland”, and drawing on their extensive experience in caring for pregnant women, declare that “Ireland is a very safe country in which to be pregnant”.
Maintaining that Ireland’s constitutional protection for the unborn does not prevent Irish women receiving care of the highest possible standard, they note that recent reports confirm that Ireland is one of the safest places in the world to be pregnant.
“Not one of our colleagues should ever be permitted to use the Eighth Amendment as an excuse for not treating a woman,” they say, pointing out that four of them had over their careers carried out surgery which resulted in terminations of pregnancy in order to save and protect Irish women. “We had no difficulty in so doing, and the Eighth Amendment did not prevent us from performing an ethical and medically indicated procedure,” they continue.
“What this referendum is not about, and what it has never been about, is maternal healthcare,” they conclude. “That some campaigners have chosen to engage in a campaign to raise unnecessary fears for maternal health in the electorate is deeply regrettable.”