Madam, – It is my sincere hope that the decision by the European Court of Human Rights to declare Ireland in violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to its abortion legislation will persuade Irish politicians to stand up and show their mettle regarding to the issue of abortion in the State. It is an oft-circumvented subject, due in part to the influence of the Catholic Church. An honest and extensive debate on the issue of abortion is long overdue in Ireland.
The Government needs to clarify the law, in order that fearful and confused doctors and social workers can help their female patients who may require abortions, and not to force every woman in Ireland to live with the yoke of the Catholic Church’s view on abortion. Everyone knows that anti-abortion laws in Ireland are not preventing abortions taking place, merely causing it to be expensive and emotionally traumatic for the women who choose to have abortions.
The key article of the Constitution covering abortion clearly states that the rights of the unborn child are equal to those of the mother. It is essential that women who have abortions receive the support from their Government that they deserve. The sooner that new legislation or new guidelines are issued, the better, so that women can stop being stigmatised and humiliated. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Following the judgment from the European Court of Human Rights in the case of A, B and C v Ireland, two things should be clarified.
First, the European Court of Human Rights is not an EU court but rather a court of the Council of Europe which is a separate institution from the EU system and does not have the same legal impact.
Second, this ruling of the court does not change abortion law in Ireland one bit. What this court ruling says is that we need national legislation in order to clarify Article 40.3.3 of our Constitution on what exactly constitutes a threat to the life of the mother. No referendum is required as we are not changing from our current constitutional position, rather we are clarifying what we have already decided.
Unfortunately once again, Ireland is shown to be lacking in its domestic legislation and it takes an international body to highlight this to us. – Yours, etc,