A Catholic bishop has claimed the Irish Medical Council could be preparing for assisted suicide with the removal of a key paragraph in its ethics guide.
Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran has said a new version of the Council's Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics omits a paragraph to "not take part in the deliberate killing of a patient".
He told Newstalk Breakfast the wording has simply been removed from this year's edition.
"This reflects the ethical principle of doing no harm to the patient, which is a fundamental principle of medical ethics since long before Christian times," he said.
"But in the 2024 Guide to Conduct, that has been taken out.
"It hasn't been changed or replaced by something else, it's just been taken out completely."
'Wrong side in the discussion'
Bishop Doran acknowledged while the change could be due to the legalised abortion services, it may also point towards something else.
"The other possibility I suppose is they're looking towards the fact that there is presently a debate going on about assisted suicide," he said.
"While that hasn't been by any means decided, maybe the Medical Council doesn't want to find itself on the wrong side in that discussion.
"I know that all the medical professions, with one exception as far as I understand, have made it very clear that they oppose assisted suicide.
"Interestingly the Medical Council, which leads doctors in terms of their practice and ethics, says it has no view on assisted suicide.
"I find that most strange".
'Doesn't make it ethical'
Bishop Doran said he believes law and ethics are not the same thing.
"The law and ethics are not the same thing; I think one would have to be concerned if the two were conflated," he said.
"The fact that something's allowed by law doesn't make it ethical, nor does it mean that it's good medicine.
"Basically, what the Medical Council has been saying to doctors and holding doctors to account for for many years, is that they must do no harm to their patient."
Bishop Doran suggested another issue arises as the Medical Council is 'a political body'.
Medical Council response
In a statement to Newstalk, the Medical Council said a number of paragraphs were "edited, merged or removed following the consultation and drafting" of the new edition.
"The guide is very clear that the medical profession must comply with and operate within the law," it said.
"It is illegal for all individuals, including doctors, to take part in the deliberate killing of a person, or to assist a person to end their own life.
"The removal of this paragraph was not the Medical Council taking a stance or paving the way for any possible future change and should not be interpreted this way.
"The removal of these sections does not diminish the law that applies in these circumstances and such amendments are not unusual from edition to edition."
The Medical Council added that similar changes were made to other topics in the latest edition, such as reference to a doctor's role in relation to assisted reproduction.
Assisted dying is legal in five EU countries - Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany and Spain.
An Oireachtas Committee on Assisted Dying has held a number of meetings since last June.
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