The umbrella group for religious communities has said Government failure to allow TDs and Senators a free vote on the forthcoming abortion legislation would be a totalitarian move.
In a statement, the Conference of Religious of Ireland said it is opposed to the planned legislation.
It said the Government, by not allowing legislators a conscientious objection, "gives the hallmark of a totalitarian regime to the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill".
Taoiseach Enda Kenny responded to the statement saying: “I've made the position clear about our voting from a Government perspective on this matter, I don't wish to play any politics with it”.
“What we're doing here is clarifying legislation, clarifying the position as far as women and their lives are concerned and the lives of the unborn.
“We're not introducing anything new here, we're staying entirely within the Constitution, providing legal certainty and clarification that was required under the ABC case,' Mr Kenny said.
“Members of the Government and the Government parties will be expected to support what the Government position here is”, the Taoiseach added.
"What we will have here at the end of it is a situation that is very clear, that is very restrictive and is confined strictly to the constitution and the law”, he said.
Elsewhere, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers has welcomed the Government's planned abortion legislation.
It was responding to Ireland's implementation of the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the A B and C v Ireland case concerning access to abortion.
The Committee of Ministers, made up of national representatives from the Council of Europe's 47 member states, is responsible for making sure that ECHR judgments are fully implemented.
The committee said it welcomes the adoption of the General Scheme of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.
It said that the legislation and regulations outline in the bill should be enacted by the end of July 2013 with the regulations coming into force shortly after.
