Three motions on the abortion issue are to be debated at the annual meeting of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), to be held in Galway this weekend.

GPs will vote on motions calling for abortion to be allowed in cases of rape or incest, or where there are lethal fetal abnormalities, and for this to be provided for in planned new legislation.

There are three motions on abortion from the ICGP Cork City faculty set to be debated at the Sunday session of the AGM.

The first motion calls on the College to support the Government in its commitment to introduce legislation and regulation for abortion services where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother.

The second motion calls on the Government to include within the proposed legislation the provision that women who become pregnant as a result of criminal acts such as rape or incest have access to the choice of legal abortion.

The third motions calls on the Government, within the legislation, to allow abortion in cases where there are  non-viable fetal abnormalities.

Recently, another doctors' meeting, the AGM of the IMO, voted to reject three similar motions put forward by Cork GP Dr Mary Favier, who is a member of the Cork City Faculty of the ICGP and is active in the Doctors for Choice group.

Another motion before the ICGP AGM, from the Kildare Faculty, states that the processes employed by the HSE and Department of Health on the definition and formation of primary care teams and the commissioning of primary care centres is 'fundamentally flawed, dysfunctional and discredited', and calls for these matters to be urgently reviewed and made accessible to the public, patients and GPs.

The theme of the ICGP AGM is 'facing current challenges and safeguarding the future of Irish general practice.'

The AGM will be attended by Minister of State at the Department of Health Alex White.