DUBLIN, December 3, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “International experience” has shown that attempts to legalize abortion in Ireland in “limited” cases, including where women threaten suicide, would quickly “open the floodgates” for abortion on demand, the Catholic bishops of Ireland have said in a new statement.

“A society that believes the right to life is the most fundamental of all rights cannot ignore the fact that abortion is first and foremost a moral issue,” the bishops said in the statement, issued the day after 10,000 pro-lifers rallied in Dublin. “As a society we have a particular responsibility to ensure this right is upheld on behalf of those who are defenceless, voiceless or vulnerable. 

“This includes our duty as a society to defend and promote the equal right to life of a pregnant mother and the innocent and defenceless child in her womb when the life of either of these persons is at risk.”

The bishops were responding to the release of the report by the government’s “expert group” on whether a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights requires Ireland to change its laws to allow abortion. The group’s report was released a week ago, and said that abortion should be considered “medical treatment” for pregnant women. It recommended that the government bring in legislation allowing “limited” abortion.

“The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights does not oblige the Irish Government to legislate for abortion,” the bishops argue in their statement.

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