Sir, – Several passages in the judgment on the recent abortion case in the High Court of Northern Ireland make for extraordinary reading ("NI's Catholic bishops 'shocked' at abortion ruling", Front Page, November 1st).
For example, Mr Justice Horner said that “it is simply impossible to know how the majority of people in Northern Ireland view abortion”, since there has never been a vote of any kind on the matter, and that it was therefore impossible to say that his judgment, which permitted abortion in the case of rape, incest and so-called fatal foetal abnormalities, was “reflective of the view of the Northern Ireland people”.
However, he did acknowledge evidence that there is no public appetite for a change of the law on this matter and that there is “no political will” to do so. He further justified his decision on the grounds that the issue is “unlikely to be grasped by the legislature in the foreseeable future”.
So in other words, it doesn’t matter what the people of Northern Ireland think; it doesn’t matter what the law is; and it doesn’t matter what the democratically elected governments or parliaments of Northern Ireland or the United Kingdom think. Abortion can be legalised in certain circumstances, just because an unelected and unaccountable judge says so. This is surely an appalling development for any democracy.
It will be cold comfort to the people of Northern Ireland to know that such a judgment is impossible in the Republic, since Article 40.3.3 of our Constitution explicitly prohibits the judicial introduction of abortion without the consent of the Irish people in a referendum. In fact, the amendment was introduced in 1983 for the very reason that such an attempt by the judiciary was feared by voters in the wake of the introduction of abortion on demand in the United States in 1963 by the Supreme Court in the Roe v Wade case. It is a cruel irony that just as the campaign to abolish Article 40.3.3 is gathering steam, a radical extension of abortion laws may take place in Northern Ireland at the hands of a lone judge, rather than as a result of a decision of its people.
As if to underline just how aloof the judiciary can be in such matters, Mr Justice Horner urged the people of Northern Ireland to read his judgment, saying that it is there for “everyone to read, not just those with legal training”.
Anyone who takes this advice and accesses the judgment on the website of the Northern Ireland Courts service is in for a rude awakening. It is 76 pages long, containing over 26,000 words, with references made to over 70 court cases and at least 12 statutes from across eight legal jurisdictions. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Sir, – The ruling in the Belfast High Court is a travesty for the unborn child, and human rights law. Are we now to accept the word of one man who tells us that unborn human beings can have their lives ended because they suffer from terminal illnesses, or because their biological father was a sexual deviant? We would not impose such a strict sentence on born children; on the contrary, we would highlight the need to provide additional care for those with serious illnesses, and we would, as a society, go to great pains to reassure the children of criminals that they are innocent of the crime in question. Why should things be any different for the unborn? – Yours, etc,
ELAINE NOONAN,
Glenageary, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Your report on Mr Justice Horner’s abortion ruling uses the unscientific FFA (fatal foetal abnormality) acronym. Medical scientists use the LLC (life-limiting condition) acronym. Medical science can’t forecast how long any unborn baby will survive independently after birth, be it for seconds or decades. – Yours, etc,
JOSEPH FOYLE,
Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
Sir, – The decision of the High Court of Northern Ireland on abortion brings into focus how we also fail to meet minimal human rights standards in our response to some pregnant women in the Republic.
We do not need a citizens’ convention to discuss whether the Eighth Amendment should be repealed, as suggested by the Taoiseach. We need leadership and a direction from our politicians to get this issue out of a Constitution it has contaminated for more than 30 years.
A myth has grown up that in 1983 the people made a profound moral statement. The voting figures say otherwise. Turnout was 54 per cent and the votes of only 36 per cent of the electorate placed Article 40.3.3 in our Constitution. The campaign created a heat and dust that still seem to blind politicians, but not a stampede by the people to ban abortion.
At the weekend political commentators were congratulating the Taoiseach on pulling a stroke that sidesteps taking a position on repealing the Eighth Amendment during the election campaign.
Women and any voters with a daughter, sister or mother, should be very angry about these avoidance tactics and should demand that election candidates pledge to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
Perhaps executive members do not look far enough outside the Oireachtas to know it, but the victims of political ruthlessness are real women denied the autonomy and rights taken as a given in most European states.
It is time to build a new Ireland in which politicians champion women’s rights instead of thinking it is smart to deny and thwart them. – Yours, etc,
SANDRA McAVOY,
Cork.
Sir, – I am shocked and horrified that, to date, not one political party in Dáil Éireann will require its TDs and Senators to vote to maintain the constitutional recognition of the equal right to life of mothers and unborn babies. Worse still, parties such as Sinn Féin and Labour demand that their representatives vote to remove the Eighth Amendment. So much for our political parties cherishing all the children of the nation equally in the Ireland of 2015! – Yours, etc,
THERESE O’BRIEN,
Drumcliffe, Co Sligo.