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Moral objection or no time: Majority of GPs say they can't provide abortion services

Legislation on the provision of abortion has been debated by the Oireachtas health committee this week.

A SURVEY BY an organisation representing GPs in Ireland has found that the majority of GPs are not in a position to provide abortions due to limited resources or conscientious objections, among other issues.

In an online survey with over 3,500 members of the Irish College of General Practitioners, 32% said they will provide termination-of-pregnancy services.

The largest number, 43%, responded to say that they weren’t in position at this time to provide the services “due to concerns regarding capacity, resources or conscientious objection, but are willing to refer to another colleague”.

The final cohort indicates that they would not provide service and would prefer not to refer to a colleague: this was 25% of the ICGP membership.

The ICGP, the professional and training body for Irish GPs, said that no GPs should be required to provide termination-of-pregnancy services if they did not wish to.

The results were part of an online consultation aimed at guiding the development of clinical guidelines for the provision of abortion services. The online consultation process was carried out during August and September; there was a 26% participation rate in the online consultation process.

Legislation on the provision of abortion has been debated in front of the Oireachtas committee this week, where a number of amendments were suggested and discussed.

An amendment to make the burial or cremation of foetal remains mandatory was voted down; another suggestion was made to change the name of the bill from “The Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy” to “Access to Healthcare by Women Seeking Termination of Pregnancy”.

It’s expected that abortion services will be available from next year, once the legislation has been passed by the Dáil and health services have had time to prepare.

“Of those who do not wish to provide a service, resourcing and workload is a major concern,” said Dr Tony Cox, medical director of the ICGP.

Our feedback shows that there is genuine worry that the promised rapid access to ultrasound scans and hospital care, will not be delivered.

“The findings also demonstrate that there is a cohort of GPs who will not opt to provide services due to concerns related to conscientious objection.”

“Both in the development of guidelines and in advocating for the necessary resources the
College’s primary concern is patient safety and quality of care,” Cox said.

The ICGP will hold an EGM on 2 December to discuss GPs providing abortion services.

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    Mute Jules Lucas
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:48 PM

    The impact of this scandal has done wonders for the local village butcher, which we are better off buying our meat from anyway in my opinion!

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    Mute Christmas Carroll
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:56 PM

    Completely agree! Never mind the fact that at least you know what you’re getting is the real deal, it’s much healthier and tastes a hell of a lot better… Makes the extra money spent worth it!

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    Mute Figo murphy
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:01 PM

    I agree. My local butcher is flying. He just bought a new car, he got rid of that old horse he used to go around on.

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    Mute Christmas Carroll
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:03 PM

    Dammit Figo :-P

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    Mute Dodge Challenger
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:53 PM

    Will this horse meat issue ever go away? It’s not that much of a big deal. Not to ruin any appetites but could you imagine the amount of little insects and other creatures that get minced in with the meat supply that we never know about.

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    Mute susanna smyth
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:56 PM

    Burgers are tested for horse meat only. What other nasty could be in there disguised as beef ?

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    Mute Bo11ocks_to_this
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:19 PM

    Did anyone else see the article from SA about water buffalo, horse and others found in beef. I’ll try find a link

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:15 PM

    A bit ironic that “Kanter” did the study eh?

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    Mute pat aherne
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:21 PM

    When we were starting our then 18 month on meat (2years ago) my wife decided to get supermarket burgers just in case he did not like them – well to tell you the truth he pretty much threw the burger back at her. I said why not try butcher meat it will taste alot better and healthier for the child. She got a 1/4 pounder and he ate 2/3 of it. Hence even an 18 month old knew the taste of quality !!

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    Mute clareo79
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    Mar 4th 2013, 2:07 PM

    You gave an 18 month old a burger?!

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    Mute mister
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:51 PM

    Interesting article. If I’m reading those stats correctly, does this indicate that ordinary local butchers have not experienced a bounce in trade? And if not, I wonder why?

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    Mute Hippocrateeth
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    Mar 4th 2013, 12:57 PM

    In other news, the number of horses commuting on the Dart has risen by over 800% in the past week. Community watch locals report a growing number of incidences involving horses some described as having ‘brazen attitudes’ and ‘brass balls’ towards concerned travellers waiting on the platforms for their respective trains. In a more striking example of the intimidation by the footloose horses, a 6-pack box of Silverdale frozen burgers was kicked at an elderly man’s head causing the man to curse loudly at the ebullient edible equine. The man was later taken for questioning. A file has been sent to the office of the DPP and a request for legal aid has been sought.

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    Mute Dave Kavanagh
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:18 PM

    Great the media is loving this story and in doing so are systematically destroying one of Irelands core industries. Dont get me wrong I am totally for a free press but some of the sensationalism printed about this scandle (storm in a teacup) in relation to its connection with Ireland has been pure speculation and even when facts where established the Irish connection was still bigged up. Journal well done on being responsible and accurate if only other media would follow your example.

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    Mute Barry McSweeney
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    Mar 4th 2013, 3:22 PM

    If anyone is destroying one of Ireland’s core industries it is those who sold contaminated meat, the officials who refuse to admit that traceability “from farm to fork” is a lie, and the businessmen who refuse to speak publicly about what happened in their factories.
    Burying your head in the sand and “pulling on the green jersey” as you advocate will never work.

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    Mute АЛЕКСАНДРЪ ХАИШ
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    Mar 4th 2013, 5:47 PM

    Completely agree with you on this one, Dave!

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    Mute sid
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    Mar 4th 2013, 1:07 PM

    @ dodge

    I figure its a very big deal , nobody has any idea where what horses were used, could have used anything to bolster up the weight

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    Mute АЛЕКСАНДРЪ ХАИШ
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    Mar 4th 2013, 5:21 PM

    “FSAI” IS STILL WORKING ON CONTAMINATED MEAT PRODUCTS ???, WHILE THERE IS POISONOUS MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS RAPIDLY SPREAD ACROSS IRELAND! Disgrace!

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