Irish Abortion Ban Challenged in European Court of Human Rights

Three women forced by the ban on abortions in Ireland to travel to Britain to have their pregnancies terminated have taken their cases to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The women, one of whom is a Lithuanian national resident in Ireland, are, as the Associated Press reports, claiming that pregnant women have their human rights violated because, firstly, they must travel abroad if they wish to end their pregnancies and secondly they are prevented from receiving the medical care they require by the banning of abortions in Ireland. Irish Attorney General Paul Gallagher SC told the 17 judges sitting at the European Court on Wednesday that not only does the abortion ban reflect the belief within Irish society that the right to life of the unborn must be protected but it is also consistent with a protocol attached to the Maastricht Treaty and guarantees given to Ireland in order to persuade its government to put the Lisbon Treaty to the Irish people once more after they had rejected it in a referendum held in 2008. The Treaty was subsequently approved by the Irish voters earlier this year. However the Guardian points out that the reference to the Lisbon Treaty is perhaps misleading because it only applies to the 27 states within the E.U. whereas the court in Strasbourg decides on human rights issues affecting the 47 countries that are members of the Council of Europe. According to RTE News Mr Gallagher mentioned too referendums held in Ireland that supported the abortion ban and the fact that the European Convention on Human Rights acknowledges the different traditions and values present in the countries of Europe and the protection to which fetuses are entitled. And he stated that the case should first have been heard in Ireland, something the women bringing the case have opposed. The women identified only as A, B, and C, and the lawyers acting for them have the support of the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and the former organization said with regard to the events in Strasbourg on Wednesday:

Today is a hugely significant day for reproductive rights in Ireland. The fact that Ireland's draconian laws on abortion have been put under the spotlight is a landmark for women living in Ireland. Ireland's restrictive laws on abortion are totally out of step with those of its European neighbours … Women and girls do not give up their human rights when they become pregnant

However supporting the ban on abortion is Ireland are members of the anti-abortion movement in the U.S. and they have been permitted to present their arguments in favor of the ban to the European Court. It appears to be the Alliance Defense Fund that is organizing the effort in the U.S. to support the law as it currently stands in Ireland. The three women who have brought the case all had different reasons for wanting to abort. One woman, who borrowed money to fund her abortion, suffered from problems that included severe post natal depression, alcohol abuse and substance abuse. Her other children were in care and she feared that they may not be returned to her if she gave birth to another child. Another of the women conceived whilst receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer and did not know what effect the treatment might have on her and her unborn child as there was no doctor available to provide the information she required. The third woman was concerned about an ectopic pregnancy developing, as the result of a morning-after abortion pill she had taken. Other countries in Europe with varying degrees of restriction on abortion - Poland, Spain and Malta are the countries mentioned by the Guardian, all with strong Catholic traditions like Ireland - are said to be watching the proceedings in Strasbourg, a city in Northeastern France, with particular interest. In 1992 a 14-year-old girl in Ireland became pregnant after being raped by a neighbor and sued the Irish government for the right to travel to England for a termination. She was successful, with the Irish Supreme Court ruling that traveling abroad for an abortion was not illegal. Furthermore the court ruled that should a pregnancy threaten the life of a woman, the young girl who had been raped was threatening to kill herself, the authorities in Ireland should permit an abortion and provide the facilities to enable it to be carried out. But doctors in Ireland are seemingly wary of performing abortions as they fear legal action or a loss of their license if an abortion is later classed as not having been necessary.