DUBLIN, Ireland -- The dispute over Ireland's virtual ban on abortion accelerated yesterday as four women who represent the country in the European Parliament accused the government of negligence in delaying a statement of its policy on the issue.
The women, among Ireland's 16-member delegation to the parliament in Strasbourg, France, said on national radio that they had voted in favor of a European Union measure that would permit abortion in cases of rape and where the life or health of a mother is endangered. One Irish male member also voted yes.
The women emphasized that the measure's provisions could not be forced on this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. But they called for a debate in the Irish parliament and for the government to issue a report on its abortion policy, and possible legislative changes, that was supposed to have been released nine months ago. Politicians wanted to avoid the issue, they added, because of its volatility, which stems from vehement and categorical opposition to abortion by the church.
Abortion is constitutionally legal here only when a women's life is threatened, but there are no clinics here for such procedures. Rape, incest or harm to the health of a woman, as distinguished from her life, are not legal grounds for abortion. About 5,000 Irish women have abortions every year in Britain.
Last week the issue flared up when a group of anti-abortion militants, including about 40 Americans, forced their way into the Dublin office of the Irish Family Planning Association and occupied it for two hours.
A judge issued an indefinite ban on the militants' picketing or trespassing at the office, which gives information on the availability of abortion in other countries, but is not allowed to advise women to have the procedure.
The government of Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who is visiting the United States and is expected to meet President Clinton at the White House on Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day, did not comment immediately. Nor did the leaders of the anti-abortion campaign, which has been pressing for a new referendum on the issue.
Abortion is expected to be one of the main issues in the campaign this June for seats in the European Parliament.
Pub Date: 3/15/99