The submissions on the Green Paper on Abortion will receive their first airing at a meeting of the All-Party Committee on the Constitution on Wednesday.
The final date for submissions was November 30th, and the three-person secretariat of the committee has been classifying them since then. It will present its first report to the committee on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is circulating all its members with a draft of a letter to the Oireachtas committee chairman, Mr Brian Lenihan. Neither the institute, which represents the profession, nor the Medical Council, made a submission to the committee.
The institute chairman, Prof John Bonnar, told The Irish Times yesterday that the executive had been discussing the matter since November, and had decided to circulate all members. The deadline for comments on the letter is the end of the month.
It is understood that the overwhelming majority of the submissions take the form of petitions supporting the first option outlined in the Green Paper - a constitutional amendment containing a total ban on abortion.
However, the Green Paper expressed concern that such a ban might outlaw a number of obstetrical procedures which involve abortion to save the life of the mother where her health is endangered by continuing the pregnancy.
Such procedures are carried out in this country, and are not opposed by anti-abortion lobbyists. The Pro-Life Campaign pointed out yesterday that they are covered by Medical Council guidelines, which state: "Should a child in utero suffer or lose its life as a side-effect of standard medical treatment of the mother, this is not unethical."
Nonetheless, many obstetricians are concerned that their freedom to pursue their clinical judgment should not be compromised. The Master of the Rotunda hospital, Dr Peter McKenna, told The Irish Times a year-and-a-half ago that pregnancies were terminated in Irish hospitals, including the Rotunda, in rare medical circumstances which threatened the life of the mother. He repeated this in an interview with the Sunday Tribune yesterday.
Dr McKenna and the masters of the two other maternity hospitals also made this point to Department of Health officials before the Green Paper was drawn up.
However, its repetition at this time is likely to sharpen the discussion about to take place in the Oireachtas committee. The Labour Party spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz MacManus, said yesterday that Dr McKenna's comments highlighted the unacceptability of having a constitutional ban on abortion in the State.
It will also be given a new sense of urgency with the approach of the end of March deadline set by the Wicklow Independent TD, Ms Mildred Fox, for movement on the subject.
None of the other three independents supporting the Coalition - Mr Jackie Healy-Rae, Mr Tom Gildea and Mr Harry Blaney - have supported the March deadline, though the latter two support an early constitutional referendum.
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