A controversial move last week by members of the Medical Council to relax doctors' guidelines on abortion may have to be reviewed on legal advice. The Medical Council met again last night in Dublin to discuss the new guidelines which anti-abortion members of the council have indicated they would challenge by means of a judicial review.
The Irish Times understands that the council has received legal advice that the Medical Council meeting at which the decisions on abortion were made did not follow proper procedures.
Sources have confirmed that the council has been inundated with correspondence from doctors since the first meeting. Apart from those stating their views on the substantive ethical issue, a significant number of doctors have been critical of the council for not engaging in wide-ranging consultation with the profession before changing its position on such an important ethical issue.
At the meeting two weeks ago, the council members present passed a motion recognising "that termination of pregnancy can occur when there is a real and substantive risk to the life of the mother". A second more controversial motion recognising "that termination of pregnancy can occur when the foetus is non-viable" was also carried.
Both motions were passed by 12 votes to seven.
The motions would substantially alter doctors' ethical guidelines on abortion which currently state: "The deliberate and intentional destruction of the unborn child is professional misconduct." The new wording would essentially bring the council's position into line with the constitutional situation following the Supreme Court ruling in the X case.
Prof Gerard Bury, president of the Medical Council, would only say that last night's meeting was "a collegial one" which had gone well. "A number of re ports dealing with a range of is sues" were put before the council which it was still considering. Prof Bury confirmed the council's plan to deal with the ethical issues surrounding abortion at a meeting in September.
A minority of members walked out of the original meeting after the motions were approved. They were introduced during a scheduled debate on the All Party Oireachtas Committee Report on Abortion. It is believed that legal advice obtained by those in favour of the status quo has also stated that the conduct of the original meeting was invalid.
It is thought likely that a cross-specialty group, made up of doctors who are not Medical Council members, may be formed to look at the ethical implications of the two motions.
At present, 24 of the council's 25 positions are filled. All but two of them are medical practitioners.
One of the council's functions is to produce a set of ethical guidelines which, while not having statutory force, represent advice to doctors on generally accepted standards of practice.
The council is half way through its term of office. The recent discussions represent its first significant move on the substantive ethical issue of abortion.