Nurses group to hand petition to Minister stressing they do not want to be forced to participate in abortions
Nurses and midwives are asking the Health Minister Simon Harris to protect their freedom of conscience over abortion.
Mr Harris will today receive a petition from 'Nurses for Life', who say they do not want to be forced to participate in abortions but are still waiting for reassurance on how the new laws will come into effect.
Spokesperson Mary Kelly said they have requested meetings with Minister Harris, but so far they have had no reply.
She said: "Well they did say conscientious objection was possible`but how that is operated, I mean our line managers would have to know in advance as to our positions.
"So, it's something we have addressed with the union and we've also made our concerns known to the board.
"We are not quite sure as to the degree to which our freedom of conscience would be protected."
Ms Kelly outlined their concern.
She said: "We really haven't had a lot of consultation, our group has asked to meet the Minister and Micheál Martin to ask what it is going to be like for us and how is the freedom of conscience going to work, because we are concerned with the way it's worded in the actual act."
