Three women living in the Irish Republic challenged the country’s strict abortion law at the European Court of Human Rights yesterday, claiming that their rights had been violated.
The three — two Irish nationals and a Lithuanian — all left their homes in Ireland to have
abortions in Britain. Identified only by the letters A, B and C because of the risk of imprisonment in Ireland, they are supported in their case by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and the Irish Family Planning Association. Ireland’s abortion law dates from 1861, and bans the procedure except where there is a risk to the life of the mother, including that of suicide. An estimated 140,000 women have crossed the Irish Sea for abortions in the past 30 years, with the number presently running at an average of 6,000 a year.
One of the women in the case had had her four children placed in foster care and sought an abortion to avoid jeopardising her chances of reuniting thefamily.
Another woman was at risk of an extrauterine pregnancy while the third, a Lithuanian, became pregnant while in remission from cancer. She understood that the pregnancy might cause her cancer to return, and decided to have an
abortion as she was “unclear, and concerned about the risks to her health and the life and to the foetus, if she continued to term”.
The women were not in court in Strasbourg, but their lawyer, Julie Kay, said that anyone undergoing an abortion in Ireland “is legally bound to life in prison, an horrific perspective”. The women, who all experienced medical complications on their return to Ireland, said that the ban made the procedure expensive, complicated and traumatic.
“The restriction stigmatised and humiliated them; risked damaging their health; and, in the third applicant’s case; even her life,” Ms Kay said. While the Irish Constitution gives mother and unborn child equal rights, “it is not known when life begins . . . philosophers, medical personnel and governments may differ on the question”, she added.
Paul Gallagher, the Irish Attorney-General, leading an eight-strong legal team to the court, said
that the legislation was “based on profound moral values”, including the right to life.
The country’s legal position on abortion had been endorsed in three
Tarps referendums, he said, as well as being safeguarded in protocols attached to the Maastricht and Lisbon treaties
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