Vol. 453 No. 5
38 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Health whether the guidelines issued to doctors are satisfactory in view of the fact that when a doctor conscientiously objects to giving such information, there is no obligation on him/her to direct the patient to a doctor who will give that information; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9454/95]
Limerick East): I presume that the Deputy is referring to the training programme and information pack for general practitioners which has been prepared by the Irish College of General Practitioners in response to the legislation on information about pregnancy termination outside the State. While the pack will be extremely helpful to doctors as a guide to sympathetic and effective counselling, it must be appreciated that guidelines on medical ethics are the responsibility of the Medical Council. The council has not yet issued any guidelines arising from the recent legislation but I expect it to do so in due course. The advice available to me is that the current code of medical ethics states that a doctor who has a conscientious objection to a given line of treatment must refer the patient to an appropriate colleague, and I would assume that the same principle should apply in relation to pregnancy counselling where it is in compliance with the relevant legislation.
