Amnesty International has rejected a Vatican appeal for Catholics to withdraw their support for the group over its support for abortion in certain circumstances.
Roman Catholics have been advised to stop donating to the human rights group and the Vatican has announced that it is suspending all financial aid to Amnesty.
The human rights organisation decided in April to involve itself in issues relating to abortion 'to the extent that they are directly linked to the right to health and against violence against women'.
As a result it has called for an end to the penalisation of women who have an abortion.
Vatican Justice Minister Cardinal Renato Martino said that by taking its new stand on abortion, Amnesty had 'disqualified itself as a defender of human rights'.
Responding, Amnesty said it was not promoting abortion as a universal right, but that women had a right to choose, particularly in cases of rape or incest.
Amnesty's Deputy Secretary-General Kate Gilmore severely criticised what she said was a 'misrepresented account' of the organisation's position.
She said: 'If Cardinal Martino had been in Darfur and stood between rape victims as stones were being thrown at them, he would not talk again about whether or not Amnesty has the integrity to stand firm for human rights'.
Amnesty in Ireland will stay neutral
However, the Irish Section of Amnesty International has said it will not be implementing the organisation's new policy.
It was agreed that national sections of Amnesty could interpret the new policy in accordance with their own context.
A spokeswoman for the Irish Section said its members had decided not to move from the original policy of neutrality.
World Health Organisation figures show that some 45 million unintended pregnancies are terminated annually, of which an estimated 19 million are carried out unsafely.
An estimated 68,000 women die every year from unsafe abortions.
In 1996 the Catholic Church took a similar measure in cutting off aid to the UN children's fund UNICEF.
UNICEF was distributing a post-intercourse spermicide in refugee camps to teenage girls who had been raped.
