Irish PM resists pressure to alter abortion laws

Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Friday he would not be rushed into making a decision on the issue of abortion, after an Indian woman died from blood poisoning in an Irish hospital after doctors refused her request for an abortion.

"This is a matter that has divided Irish society now for a great number of years, and I am not going to be rushed into a situation by force of numbers on any side," Kenny told state broadcaster RTE.

"I'm not going to be rushed into the situation by force of numbers on any side. This is something which needs to be treated rationally and openly and truthfully, and that's what will happen," Kenny said.

Irish minister for health James Reilly had expressed similar views on Thursday. Resisting pressure to commit to the introduction of legislation to clarify the legal situation governing terminations of pregnancy, Dr Reilly said it would be improper of him to make such a commitment before he considered the report of his expert group on abortion.

He said he had given the report, which he received this week, a ''quick glance'' but had not had time to study it properly. After he had done this, he would bring it to cabinet, he said on Thursday.

After a global outcry, the Irish government pledged on Thursday to clarify its abortion laws, and set up an expert committee to study the issue.