Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn has said it’s “not acceptable” that Ireland has “no public guidance” or proper reporting system in situations where a baby is born alive following an abortion.

Deputy O’Flynn said it has been confirmed in replies he recently received to a number of Parliamentary Questions that “no clinical protocols or national standards are in place.” He described the situation as “an extraordinary governance failure in an area where clarity, professionalism and compassion are essential.”

He has called on the Government to take three immediate steps: Publish national clinical guidance for all hospitals setting out the standard of care that should be afforded to babies that survive an abortion; establish a national reporting requirement to maintain transparency and ensure accountability; release the number of cases where a baby has survived an abortion since 2019.

Earlier this year, in reply to another PQ Deputy O’Flynn submitted, the HSE confirmed that 12 babies were born alive following abortion and died soon afterwards in the year 2022 alone. The Pro Life Campaign has since established that from 2019 to 2022 at least 84 babies were born alive in Irish hospitals after abortion.

On foot of this disclosure, the PLC wrote to the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, calling for an urgent investigation into the treatment of babies born alive in Irish hospitals following abortion procedures.

The fact that there isn’t clarity about what so-called “comfort care” means or what standard of medical care is being provided to these babies is outrageous.

It is really encouraging though to see elected representatives like Deputy O’Flynn also pushing hard for answers. In line with what he called for earlier this week, clinical protocols need to be introduced with immediate effect, to ensure the defenceless babies in these situations receive the highest level of medical care after the grotesque and traumatic abortion procedure they were put through and survived.