The chairwoman of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) said yesterday it would not be appropriate for the Catholic pregnancy advice agency Cura to "keep getting money" if it stopped making details of other agencies with information on abortion available to its clients.
In an escalation of the row over the Cura practice, Olive Braiden has recommended that the CPA's next meeting with Cura, scheduled for next month, be brought forward.
A spokesman for the Catholic Press Office said the issue was being discussed and a statement may be issued today. The issue is expected to be raised at next month's meeting of the Irish Episcopal Conference.
Ms Braiden said she doubted Cura's funding of €600,000 a year would be "pulled". However, she told The Irish Times yesterday that there was a clear service agreement between all nine agencies the CPA funded. This included referring a client on to another bona-fide agency if the service they sought was not available from them. This included referring them to an agency that provided abortion details.
"Pulling the funding is not on the agenda at the moment, no. But it clearly wouldn't be appropriate for individual agencies to pull out of the service agreement and keep getting the money."
However, one of the foremost experts in moral theology in the State has said Cura must stop the practice of "co-operation" with "the evil of abortion".
Dr Vincent Twomey, professor of moral theology at Maynooth, said: "This arrangement can't continue." He added that he hoped comments by Ms Braiden were "not blackmail, though it sounds like it".
Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, Dr Twomey said the bishops had to "take a clear unequivocal stand with regard to the evil of abortion".
"No kind of co-operation with this is possible," he said.
Cura would "have to either negotiate a new agreement" or forgo the €600,000 per annum funding from the CPA.
"I think €600,000 is a very little price to pay for saving one baby's life. The Church will surely voluntarily provide what's needed."
Dr Twomey said the principle of plurality was being undermined by "the agenda of people like the Irish Planned Pregnancy Association, Rape Crisis Centre etc, who only will allow those who follow their view with regards to abortion". If this was allowed it would be "catastrophic", he continued.
He said, "Ms Braiden and others who are in high positions" were not elected but "carrying out State policy". They failed to recognise that "a sizeable majority of this country is Catholic. They uphold certain values, certain principles. And these principles have got to be respected by the State and State agencies, whether they like it or not."
It is understood the CPA is keen to keep Cura as one of its funded agencies. With almost 20 centres across the State, it has the widest network and receives more CPA funding than any of the other eight agencies.
