CORK UNIVERSITY Hospital has said that its medical staff were “guided, but not instructed” by the findings of ethics forum which advised that a terminally ill cancer patient was not entitled to an abortion in Ireland.
The hospital said the forum existed to offer “informed opinion”, when asked, to guide medical staff in making ethically difficult decisions.
“Medical staff in charge of patient care are guided, but not instructed, by the opinion of the ethics forum,” the hospital said.
The forum, which is chaired by hospital consultant Dr Fergus Walsh, is made up of several medical and non-medical representatives with legal, theology and philosophy backgrounds. A lay person is also a member of the forum.
The role of the ethics bodies has come into focus following the case of Michelle Harte (39) of Wexford, who says she was forced to travel to Britain for an abortion earlier this year despite her life-threatening illness.
Doctors at Cork University Hospital (CUH) – where she was being treated for cancer – advised her to terminate the pregnancy because of the risks to her health. However, she said an ethics forum at the hospital decided against authorising an abortion for her in Ireland on the basis that her life was not under “immediate threat”.
The Health Service Executive was unable to say last night how many lawful abortions have been sanctioned in Ireland on foot of the advice of similar ethics bodies in hospitals around the State.
The only figures available show that just under 700 women had ectopic pregnancies – complications which can threaten the life of the mother – in 2008. There are no figures on how many, if any, of these cases resulted in lawful abortions in Ireland.
CUH said its ethics forum is available to arrange emergency meetings where necessary within 48-72 hours. “The forum comprehensively considers any case referred to it and conclusions are reached within a week to 10 days.”
Ms Harte said she waited for about two weeks for a decision from the ethics forum, while difficulties in arranging travel contributed to a further three-week delay.
Abortion is legal in Ireland in circumstances where the life of the mother is at risk. However, last week the European Court of Human Rights found that Ireland has failed to give full effect to this constitutional right.
Minister for Health Mary Harney declined to comment on Ms Harte’s case yesterday. A spokesman said she had accepted that legislation would be needed to implement the court’s decision but indicated this was unlikely to happen before the next election.
Labour's health spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan said The Irish Timesreport yesterday on Ms Harte's experience "underlines the fact that we have to have clear guidelines. The Irish State has been negligent . . . There isn't clarity for doctors and their patients."
