Send this news story to a friend
Supreme Court Hears of Unborn Babies’ Constitutional Rights in Embryo Case : 9th Feb 09
Supreme Court Hears of Unborn Babies’ Constitutional Rights in Embryo Case
Because unborn babies have the legal right to life, a man can’t stop his estranged wife from using frozen embryos they created during their marriage, the Supreme Court heard last week. This assertion came on the opening day of an appeal by a mother of two against her failed High Court action, which sought permission to have three embryos implanted in her uterus, against her estranged husband’s wishes.
Mary Roche, 43, brought the action after creating three embryos through an IVF procedure with her husband Thomas Roche in 2002 at the SIMS fertility center in Rathgar, Dublin. Mr Roche, 46, later opposed implanting the embryos, saying he wanted no more children with her. In her appeal, she says she’s entitled to the implantation it because of the fertility procedure consents her husband signed and Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, which requires the State to protect and vindicate unborn babies’ right to life.
Gerard Hogan, SC, for Ms Roche, said the State, because of the 1983 constitutional amendment requiring it to safeguard the unborn, must facilitate the implantation. In this case, he held, the woman couldn’t be denied, because she wanted to provide “a home” for the embryos. He argued that the embryos constitute the unborn within the meaning of Article 40.3.3. Their right to life trumps any contract arguments, he added, and the State’s duty was independent of any contract. It couldn’t willingly let “surplus” embryos be killed, he held.
The court also had to take into account the Medical Council guidelines of 2002 prohibiting the killing of any human embryos. The Irish Independent. February 3. The Irish Times. February 3.
Recent Topics
- Seán Dublin Bay Loftus, Veteran Pro-Lifer Dies
- Irish Senator Critical of EU Funding for Gay Adoption Conference
- Ray Gosling Charged With Wasting Police Time in ‘Mercy Killing’ Case
- ‘Dr Death’ Wants Assisted Suicide for All
- Bogus Claims of “Thousands” of Poles Travelling for Abortion
- Chilean Bishop Urges Defence of Life to End Culture of Death
- A Pint of Beer and an Abortion?
- Catholic Teaching on the Family “Makes Sense”: Probation Expert
- Mass For Grandparents Held in Westport
- Boots Puts Profit Before Women And Children’s Health
- Adult Stem Cell Researchers May have Found Baldness Cure