Irish leader says Pope Benedict’s advice not helpful on abortion issue

Falconflash with his pearl of wisdom "50% of babies who die in abortion are female" I hope the other 50% are male. No one is advocating a "carte blanche" abortion policy. Practical people can see when abortions are neccessary only the pro lifers lack common sense and logic in this debate

The IC filters won't allow me to post a reply to fflash, so I'll just restate what I said earlier. "Hateful" is exactly right, and hate-filled. What the Irish government is attempting to do is extremely difficult: to find a way to save the lives of pregnant women when pregnancy endangers their lives and doctors cannot save the fetus. Only barbaric, unthinking, uncaring people driven by ideology, surely not Christianity, would oppose such efforts. The govt cannot change the Constitution to allow abortion on demand or in circumstances that are not life-endangering. Only a complete disregard for the value of the lives of women can lead someone to oppose the government in this task. They should have the whole-hearted support of everyone who cares about life. Now FFlash calls this work to save lives "a ploy"? Whose soul hangs in jeopardy for allowing women needlessly to die? When the moral arguments are on the side of limited abortion rights, the zealots resort to threats, but consider the source!

StanJames ,you are an insulting uninformed bigot! We Catholics too tolerant of your likes ! You would not have the courage to comment unfavourably on any aspect of Islam .It would also be not politically correct to unfavourably comment on any of the Protestant churches .Why dont you just go back in to your cave ?

The german pope has lost his marbles and needs to be put in a mental hospital. He rants about abortion while at the same time he UNexcommunciated biship williamson, a holocaust denier in 2009 There is an interesting book about him by David Gibson, a catholic writer. Its called Pope Benedict and his battle with the modern world. And of couse this is the same pope who is directly involved in the hiding of the endless molestation of children by his sex starved priests. the Pope is also gone off the deep end by second class civil unions for our gay friends , neighbors and family and is most likely horrified by the fact that per Irish times, 73% fo the Irish people - the most catholic nation in the world, support changing the constitution to allow gay people to marry as a civil only law, nothing to do with the church. Keep your money, stop going to church, not that many do so already. Perhaps God will take this extremist, the sooner the better.

eiramach: 50% of the babies who die in abortions are baby girls. The life of the mother arguement is just a ploy to bring abortion to Ireland. You would easily find a doctor to approve the butchery in any case you could imagine. The Irish don't kill their babies --- that is something to be extremely proud of. Hollabuckgirl types will lose their immortal souls on this issue, no doubt about it.

Perhaps, after seeing this outpouring of sheer contempt for the lives of women in life-threatening medical emergencies, people will pay attention to those who say that the anti-choice movement is not about the sacredness of life. It's about keeping women obedient and powerless, without any choice in their reproductive lives because churchmen believe they are incapable of making moral choices. The legislation that the government is working on doesn't give ANY new choice to a woman. Panels of doctors or other experts will make the decision of whether or when to abort; the woman cannot make the decision. If the experts make the wrong decision, she dies. She's still helpless and dependent on others. Isn't that just what the anti-choice people want? But they haven't the sense to figure it out. Read the "Report of the Expert Group on the Judgment in A, B, and C v Ireland." Get informed before you make a comment that means you approve of women dying needlessly in crisis pregnancy!

"Hateful" is exactly right, and hate-filled. What the Irish government is attempting to do is extremely difficult: to find a way to save the lives of pregnant women when pregnancy endangers their lives and doctors cannot save the fetus. Only barbaric, unthinking, uncaring people driven by ideology, surely not Christianity, would oppose such efforts. The govt cannot change the Constitution to allow abortion on demand or in circumstances that are not life-endangering. Only a complete disregard for the value of the lives of women can lead someone to oppose the government in this task. They should have the whole-hearted support of everyone who cares about life.

It's hateful, holier than thou comments like the one below this (by falconflash) which is the reason that most thinking people reject the so-called pro-life movement. You know, the people who think life is sacred until you're actually born - then they want to outlaw health care and sell you assault weapons at WalMart.

kubs, you're for the slaughter of children.

Gee! The Pope's statement on an issue he feels passionately (if unrealistically) about was not "helpful" in a real-world debate. What a surprise! Seriously, he didn't want to be helpful; he wanted to push his own radical agenda that a dwindling minority of his own church supports. We cannot let the superstitious no matter how well intentioned (as one assumes "christinao't" may be) control the dialog as science is all on the side of reform. No *baby* ever died in a safe, LEGAL abortion. A fetus has the potential to become a human life - a baby - when the ganglia of the brain start to come together, but it is not YET one regardless of how the right wing tries to move the "goal line." If we allow them to impose their superstitions on the rest of the world, they will be accusing masturbating teens of killing "babies."

It's incredible that this debate is still going on after all these years. It's even more incredible that any Govt. which relies on votes is negotiating anything with the Pope in Rome. What happened to indepence and national sovereignty? I wouldn't be voting for an weak, spongey political party that didn't tell the Pope to pull his head in.

Abortion on demand in Ireland aint gonna happen,period,the Irish constitution says so,voted on by referendum by the majority of the people,and can only be reversed by them,its past time to give the scaremongering a rest.

christinao't, do you really think anyone cares about what narrow-minded bigots "want to hear?"

I don't want to hear the Irish whine about any British oppression or famines if they start killing there own children.

Katie - you are right, of course. Killing is killing and this is the worst kind. Killing defenseless babies out of egocentric driven convenience. First they made sure they dehumanized them (abortionists never call them babies: they call them embryos, fetuses, zygotes etc. even as they abort (kill) them during partial birth abortion and late term abortion of fully formed, thinking and feeling human beings. After they are dehumanized it is easy to take their rights away. A person with no rights can be killed and this is what they do. When life is done for these people ( who, I am certain are happy THEY were not aborted) they will have a lot of explaining to do to the Supreme Being. Medically necessary abortions are almost never necessary in this day and age.