The new anti-abortion group, Ireland for Life, will take judicial review proceedings against the Irish Medicines Board if it does not ban the morning-after pill, Levonelle, as an abortifacient.
Ireland for Life was founded by Mrs Mary Thornton, former chairwoman of Galway for Life, which is affiliated to the Pro-Life Campaign.
In a letter to the IMB delivered by hand yesterday, solicitor for IFL, Ms Elizabeth Bruton, said that if the spokeswoman for the organisation, Mrs Thornton, did not receive an assurance from the IMB about the classification of Levonelle within three days it would institute judicial review proceedings. Levonelle was initially not licensed by the IMB when it came on the market in Europe, as it was thought to be capable of acting as an abortifacient.
Among its effects is the prevention of the implantation of a fertilised egg in the womb.
However, following the publication of the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Bill, which defined pregnancy as following the implantation of the egg in the womb, the Irish Medicines Board reclassified it as a contraceptive. Ireland for Life opposes the wording of this Bill, which is designed to ban abortion on grounds like those in the X case.
According to the letter from Ireland for Life, the licensing of Levonelle is contrary to Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, which, it says, protects human life from conception.
Because of its abortifacient character, Levonelle offends, not only the Constitution, but Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. This was reinforced by the 1979 Health (Family Planning) Act of 1979, according to IFL.
"I believe this could be the last time that such an action can be brought," said Mrs Thornton. "If the forthcoming abortion referendum is passed, there will be no law vindicating the right to life of the pre-implantation embryo."