Three women, who have had abortions abroad, have lodged a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) challenging the ban on abortion in Ireland.
The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) is assisting the women with the challenge by providing them with legal research and support.
The women, who all live in Ireland and have all had recent experience of crisis pregnancy and have travelled abroad for abortions, yesterday lodged their complaint to the ECHR.
Their complaint centres around four Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights.
These include;
Article 8 which has regard to the right of privacy in all family, home and personal interests, and entitlement to no public interference from any public authority in exercising this right;
Article 3 which protects individuals from "inhuman or degrading treatment";
Article 2 which affords protection of the law to safe-guard the life of an individual, and;
Article 14 which affords rights and freedoms without discrimination on any grounds.
Spokesperson for the IFPA, Prof Ivana Bacik, said that this was a "groundbreaking case" as it was the first case to challenge the ban on abortion in Ireland that used "these particular arguments and on these particular grounds".
Prof Bacik agreed that any findings by the ECHR were not legally binding on Ireland as the State has yet to sign up to the UN Convention on Human Rights. However, she said any findings in favour of the women was bound to have an impact here.
She added that it was likely to be 18 months before the women would receive a hearing at the ECHR.