A Tragic Milestone: Cavan General Hospital to Begin Performing Abortions
19.03.2025
A Tragic Milestone: Cavan General Hospital to Begin Performing Abortions
In a statement to the Seanad marking International Women’s Day, newly appointed Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill announced that abortion services will commence at Cavan General Hospital on March 31. With this development, all 19 of Ireland’s maternity hospitals will now be performing abortions.
This move aligns with the only abortion-related pledge in the Programme for Government (2025), which vowed to “ensure that all maternity hospitals provide equitable access to termination of pregnancy services.” The government has now followed through on that promise, despite previous objections from medical consultants at Cavan General, who had written to the then Minister for Health expressing their unwillingness to be involved in abortions. Nevertheless, a recruitment drive took place between 2022 and 2023 to appoint medical personnel who would carry out terminations at the hospital.
It is deeply distressing that a facility dedicated to caring for mothers and newborns has been transformed into a place where unborn babies will lose their lives. This shift is not only a moral tragedy but a stark reminder of how taxpayer money is being used—approximately €7million per year—to fund abortions in Ireland.
How ironic that on a day meant to celebrate women, the Minister chose to mark the occasion by confirming the expansion of a service that will end the lives of countless preborn girls and boys. Since the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, tens of thousands of innocent babies have been aborted in Ireland. That’s tens of thousands of children who will never take their first steps, never wear their first school uniform, never bring joy to their parents or grandparents.
We are witnessing an era where the most vulnerable among us—those with no voice, no choice, and no defense—are being sacrificed under the guise of healthcare. This is nothing short of an atrocity. Every life is precious, and every baby deserves a chance to live.