The question of provision of contraceptives to girls under the age of 16 should be decided by the Government, delegates attending the annual conference of the Irish College of General Practitioners were told yesterday.
Discussing a motion that the ICGP should seek legislative clarification on the issue, the chairman, Dr Brian Coffey, who is a member of a working party on child abuse guidelines, told the conference that doctors had agonised over this. They could not come up with any conclusion and the matter had been referred to the Government for decision.
On the proposition of Dr Leonard Condren, the delegates amended the motion by deleting the word "legislative". The amended motion - seeking clarification regarding the provision of contraceptives to girls under the age of 16 - was passed unanimously.
Dr Coffey said that he hoped the motion would put pressure on the Government to sort the matter out once and for all.
Dr Patrick O'Meara, treasurer of the ICGP, said that GPs were seeing more and more under-age girls coming to them without their parents' knowledge to seek advice on sexual matters and contraception. Since the legal situation was somewhat unclear, doctors were technically unable to prescribe to under-age girls without their parents' consent unless there was a life-threatening situation.
"It is very emotive and it may not be long before one of our members is brought before the courts on a matter like this", he said.
Dr Condren said that such matters were best left within the confidential relationship between the doctor and the patient. If a motion seeking legislative clarification was passed, they would be seen by adolescents as committing "a spectacular own goal", and the GP would be the last individual a young person would approach to discuss the issue.
Dr Michael Coughlan, of Galway, said that the motion reflected the reality of general practice in the 1990s, where doctors were facing a very real dilemma. "Life in Ireland is undergoing a process of change and I don't think GPs are ready for that change", he said.
He did not think legal clarification was needed, as the law was quite explicit and no under-age girl should be subjected to sex.
Dr Jania Lyons, of Dublin, said that prescribing contraceptives to girls under 16 was dangerous and an abuse.