The Medical Council has made a significant shift in its position on abortion by voting that a termination of pregnancy is permissible where there is "a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother".
However, the council also states that it subscribes to the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' (IOG) position, which has spelt out the restricted type of medical circumstances where this might arise.
The wording of the new guideline was contained in one of a number of motions passed during a five-hour debate at the council yesterday. The revised wording now becomes part of the council's new ethical guidelines on the child in utero, and replaces the previous guidelines.
They state that the deliberate and intentional destruction of the unborn child is professional misconduct, adding that if the child in utero lost its life as a side effect of standard medical treatment of the mother, this was not unethical.
The new guideline is now likely to enter the debate on what wording any possible new anti-abortion amendment to the Constitution can have.
It gives doctors a degree of discretion in deciding what is a "real and substantial risk" to the life of the mother, but different views were expressed last night about the extent of that discretion.
Dr Hugh Bredin, one of seven doctors who opposed the earlier motions, told The Irish Times he voted against the amended motion because "real and substantial" could be interpreted as a licence for further expansion of the grounds for abortion.
"What are the limits of `real' and `substantial'?" he asked. There were 14 votes for and eight against the motion.
However, Dr Bredin said he was happy the addendum referring to the position of the IOG had been added. It had been proposed to the meeting as an individual motion, but was then appended.
Dr Patricia Casey, who was a member of the council and is opposed to any relaxation of the law on abortion, told The Irish Times she was very happy with the outcome of the meeting. "The deliberate destruction of the unborn is gone, the threat of suicide is gone," she said.
It is understood, however, that a motion specifically to exclude the threat of suicide as a ground for abortion, which is the current state of the law following the X judgment, did not succeed on the basis that the guideline should not be proscriptive.
Mark Brennock, Political Correspondent writes:
The Cabinet is expected to consider the abortion issue, within weeks after the Taoiseach told Ministers yesterday they should expect a report from the sub-committee dealing with the issue shortly.
According to a Government spokesman, Mr Ahern told yesterday's Cabinet meeting the sub-committee on abortion had met last Monday, but was to meet again before reporting to the full Cabinet. That report could have come as early as next week, but the crisis over the attacks in the US may defer a final agreement on a report.