Thursday, October 11, 2012

Belfast To Open Ireland's First Abortion Clinic.

DUBLIN (AP) — A family planning charity plans to open the first abortion clinic in Ireland, challenging decades of legal confusion over the extremely limited access to pregnancy terminations in both parts of the island.

Officials at the Marie Stopes facility due to open next week in Belfast, capital of the British territory of Northern Ireland, said Thursday they plan to offer non-surgical abortions to women whose pregnancies are less than nine weeks in gestation. They expect protests and have declined to reveal the clinic's street address.

Women will receive medication that causes a miscarriage only if doctors determine that continued pregnancy would jeopardize their physical or mental health.

Abortions under such circumstances are supposed to be legal already in both parts of Ireland. But lawmakers have failed for decades to clarify the situation, leaving hospitals and doctors fearful of suffering pickets or lawsuits if they're publicly identified as an abortion provider.

No comments:

Post a Comment