There has been a shift in position among Medical Council members originally opposed to changes in abortion guidelines, The Irish Times has learned.
Proposals due to be placed before a council meeting on Tuesday suggest a possibility of compromise between members in favour of a liberalisation of ethical guidelines for the medical profession and those in favour of the status quo.
The council has been split since May when two controversial motions to liberalise doctors' professional guidelines were passed. A subsequent High Court challenge to Medical Council procedure by those against change failed.
At a meeting next Tuesday, those in favour of relaxing the guidelines will table the following motions, which have been formally proposed by six of the council's 25 members.
The wording of the first motion is: "That the Medical Council resolves to withdraw from the Ethics Committee its delegated authority to discuss the item of abortion and the revision of section F 26.5 of the 1998 Ethical guidelines."
Section F 26.5 deals with guidelines on reproductive medicine. Sources have confirmed that this motion is intended to allow the full council make a final decision on the issue at Tuesday's meeting.
The second motion proposes that "the council recognises that termination of pregnancy can occur when there is real and substantive risk to the life of a mother or where there is a foetal abnormality which is incompatible with extra-uterine life".
The six council members further state that "if this latter proposal is passed by a majority of those present, it should then be included in the Ethical Guidelines as a substitution for section F 26.5".
The Irish Times understands that the seven members who originally opposed a liberalisation of the abortion guidelines will table two counter-proposals at next week's meeting. The first of these will call for "widespread and open consultation on the issue with both the public and the profession".
The second motion will propose that "the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' submission to the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution should form the basis for new ethical guidelines on abortion".
The key paragraph in the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' submission states: "in current obstetrical practice rare complications can arise where therapeutic intervention is required at a stage in pregnancy where there will be little or no prospect for survival of the baby, due to extreme immaturity. In these exceptional situations, failure to intervene may result in the death of both mother and baby.'.
Sources on both sides have suggested that there is a possibility of compromise at Tuesday's meeting. Although no substantial mediation efforts took place, it is felt that the adoption of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' proposals - which effectively accept the reality of limited medical abortion - represents a substantial shift in the negotiating position among those originally opposed to any change.