Bishops urged to reconsider as hospital vows to destroy embryos if Ireland votes 'yes'

London, 4 March 2002--The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has urged Irish bishops and other pro-life people to re-consider their support for the government's proposed constitutional change after a Dublin maternity hospital said it would destroy frozen human embryos if there was a 'yes' vote in Wednesday's referendum.

Yesterday's Sunday Tribune reported that the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, would dispose of embryos created through in vitro fertilisation next year. The constitutional amendment would define abortion as taking place only after an embryo had implanted in the womb.

Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, said: "If proof were still needed that this proposed constitutional change would deny the right to life, then here it is. Those who have hitherto felt that the amendment would somehow help the unborn must now reconsider their position. Human life at its most vulnerable will lose its legal protection if this change is made. The pro-life way to vote on Wednesday is to vote 'no'."