Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern yesterday published the Human Life and Pregnancy Bill, which, if approved, would allow abortions in cases where the woman's life is at risk, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The bill would allow doctors to perform abortions if a woman's life was "considered at risk," except in instances of "threatened suicide" (Pogatchnik, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/3). Ireland's constitution prohibits abortion, but the law became "unclear" when a 1992 Irish Supreme Court ruling upheld the right of a raped teen to have an abortion where there was "a real and substantial risk" to the woman. Because Ahern's bill proposes a change in the country's constitution, the measure will be voted on by the general public in a referendum that will likely take place next spring. The referendum would mark the third time in 20 years that Ireland has tried to change its abortion law (Brown, Financial Times, 10/3). Ahern's measure would also legalize emergency contraception -- currently available only in Northern Ireland and Britain -- and would create a government-funded "crisis pregnancy agency" that would offer "caring, practical intervention" for pregnant women, Ahern said. Each year, approximately 6,500 Irish women travel to Britain for abortion procedures (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/3).

Tepid Support
Irish abortion-rights opponents and the country's main opposition party greeted Ahern's proposal with a "guarded welcome." Antiabortion activist Des Hanafin said, "We welcome the fact there'll be a referendum, and that there's very definite pro-life overtones in the whole package" (Pogatchnik, AP/Detroit Free Press, 10/3). However, Sinead Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Irish abortion-rights group Abortion Reform, was "disappointed" with the proposal. "It's not going to offer the women who travel to Britain any real option. Women are perfectly capable of making the decision whether to have a child, and they should be facilitated in their own country," she said (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/3).