IRELAND has a serious problem with unplanned pregnancies and with the number of women going abroad to seek abortions, the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, has said.
Turning the sod yesterday for a £500,000 CURA post natal project, the Minister added that Ireland now has an abortion rate of at least 9 per cent of the live birth rate, and this figure does not take into account women who go to Britain for abortions and do not give Irish addresses.
Irish society and social attitudes to the family had changed dramatically in the last 20 years and this change was continuing, Mr Noonan said. In particular, there had been a large rise in the numbers of children born outside marriage. Many people were adopting modes of family life different from that of the traditional nuclear family.
He said the vast majority of unmarried mothers now chose to keep their babies, whereas in other times they gave them up for adoption.
"It is, I think, important to recognise that not all children born outside of marriage are unplanned and that many women both inside and outside relationships are choosing to have children without getting married," he added.
The Minister pointed out that the Government had put in place a programme to deal with the problem of crisis pregnancies. It included initiatives iii research and education, pregnancy counselling and comprehensive family planning. It had two objectives to reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancies and to reduce the extent to which unwanted pregnancies end in abortion.
He revealed that his Department has commissioned a major study to identify the factors which contribute to the incidence of unwanted pregnancy.
The Government also recognised the importance of counselling for women with crisis pregnancies. This counselling could be provided by family doctors and voluntary agencies such as CURA, LIFE and Cherish. In 1995, the Minister provided an allocation of £300,000 for this purpose, of which CURA received £150,000. This year he has provided an allocation of £700,000, of which CURA received £350,000.
The new CURA centre, to be built in Thomondgate, Limerick, will provide 12 self contained units for single mothers and their babies and will serve as a home for them for three to six months until they get suitable public or private accommodation.