CLAIMS have been made that staff members at University Maternity Hospital Limerick are leaking information to pro-life groups about the exact times and dates when terminations are taking place, so they can stage prayer and protest events outside the hospital at those times.
The Limerick-based ‘Together For Safety’ group has been campaigning for a year to have a legal safety zone around medical facilities where abortion services are offered, to prevent women running the gauntlet of protest groups.
The group’s co-convener Yvie Murphy told the Limerick Post they have been approached by staff members concerned at the leaking of such sensitive information.
“We are utterly horrified at the thoughts that private information about healthcare appointments are being given to people with the sole focus of turning up at the same time and making it more difficult for those at their most vulnerable to enter the hospital and get the care they require. These actions speak to the urgency with which Safe Access Zone legislation is needed.”
The group has informed Health Minister Stephen Donnelly about the alleged leaks.
“We have had people contact us who have been approached by these people when they go to hospital for appointments, not just in Limerick but at maternity hospitals elsewhere in the country.
“Some of the protesters have tried to engage with, or talk to women. Others have been very abusive. It’s terribly distressing for women accessing services.”
Protest groups sporting religious paraphernalia and saying prayers regularly gather outside the Ennis Road hospital and also at the Family Planning Clinic Health on Mallow Street and at the surgeries of GPs who have signed up to providing abortion information and referrals.
Members of the pro-life groups have been reported trying to gain access to the Limerick Family Planning Clinic “but they didn’t get far,” Ms Murphy told the Limerick Post.
Limerick-based Senator Paul Gavan (SF) said that the claims made by ‘Together for Safety’ gave an added urgency to the passage of the Safe Access Bill.
“This is an intolerable situation and that is why we need a swift passage for this Bill. Everyone and their partners should be able to access compassionate healthcare including abortion services in privacy and dignity,” he added.
The Limerick Post contacted University Hospital Limerick Group for comment but had not received a response at the time of going to press.
