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Government Defends Ireland’s Abortion Law at Euro Court : 21st Dec 09
Government Defends Ireland’s Abortion Law at Euro Court
The Irish Government strongly defended the nation’s protections of unborn babies at the European Court of Human Rights earlier this month, insisting they rest on “profound moral values embedded in Irish society”. The case involves three women, known as A, B and C, who say their inability to abort their babies in Ireland jeopardised their health and violated their human rights.
In the hearing, Attorney General Paul Gallagher insisted the people had endorsed the country’s legal position on abortion in three referenda, a position also safeguarded in protocols attached to the Maastricht and Lisbon treaties. He said the European Convention on Human Rights has recognised the diversity of traditions and values among countries that signed the convention over the past six decades.
The convention also extended human rights protection to unborn children. Mr Gallagher noted that this challenge sought to undermine these fundamental principles and align Ireland with countries with more liberal abortion laws.
Criticising the nature of the case taken by the three women—who have the backing of the Irish Family Planning Association, which has links with the wealthy and powerful International Planned Parenthood Federation—Mr Gallagher pointed out that their case was based on “legal and factual propositions which, when analysed, cannot be supported”.
The women’s case had not been heard before the domestic courts, which meant that key facts relating to it—many of which were of an assumed and conditional nature—had not been properly tested. “[I]f these issues are to come before this court”, he stated, “it should be on the basis of established facts”.
He also questioned the women’s assertions that their rights were violated due to poor provision of post-abortion counselling and medical support; this amounted to a “significant attack on the Irish system, on the medical treatment available, on the advice available and the support available to people” in crisis pregnancies.
The State rejected suggestions by the women’s legal team that abortion law was unclear and insisted the Constitution clearly stated that abortion was lawful in the circumstances of the X case, where the life of the mother was at risk.
“These grounds will rarely arise”, Mr O’Donnell argued, “but where there is a possibility of a risk to the life of the woman, physically or medically, there is a clear and bright line rule [provided by the Constitution] that is neither difficult to understand nor to apply”.
There were detailed Medical Council guidelines available to doctors that set out the proper response for women presenting in these circumstances, he added.
Mr O’Donnell rejected assertions in legal submissions for the women that there was a move toward greater public support for weakening Irish abortion law, and insisted such assertions rested on “fragments of opinion polls”.
On the failure of the Government to legislate for the provisions of the X case, he said it has taken the issue of abortion extremely seriously, as shown by five referenda over 25 years, as well as Oireachtas committee reports and a constitutional review group.
In conclusion, he contended, the “law may be restrictive, but the law is clear, it is well-known and it is applied. What is not clear is how the situation will be improved if we had permanent and rigid legislation”.
The Attorney General and Mr O’Donnell were part of an eight-strong legal team that included senior counsel Brian Murray and four legal advisers: Christine O’Rourke, Geraldine Luddy, Sarah Farrell and Bernadette McDonnell. The court adjourned after the hearing and a judgment is expected in six to eight months.
Based in Strasbourg, the court, which is separate from the EU, rules on human rights issues among all 47 member states of the Council of Europe. The Irish Times. December 10.
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