Well, as expected, the European Court of Human Rights has upheld the right to abortion, and has found Ireland guilty of failing to provide abortion services for one of the three women who took the case to the Court. This lady had a rare form of cancer, and so, unable to have an abortion in Ireland, she had to travel to England. The court cites her privacy and family rights as the basis for their judgement. The media is full of news on the ruling.
Apparently the ruling is based on Ireland's botched laws on abortion, thanks to a court case, the X case, where the Irish Supreme Court in a mystifyingly strange interpretation of a pro-life amendment to the Irish Constitution, ruled that a woman could have an abortion if her life was threatened. Pro-life organisations had criticised that Supreme Court judgement, as we all scratched our heads and wonder how in the name of God they could allow a woman kill her child when the Constitution provide protection - but then it is not the first time courts plucked interpretations of legalisation out of the air to suit their needs.
Where do we go from here? Well, the government is looking into it. The pro-abortion groups will use this to push their agenda - already a representative for a group calling themselves Doctors for Choice has been on radio rejoicing. Some media are reporting that Ireland has no choice but to legislate for abortion now. It has been suggested that we need a referendum to sort out the problem.
I suspect the government secretely welcomes the court ruling. The blasphemy law was introduced on the basis that although the Courts had determined that the Constitution prohibits blasphemy, it was not defined in legislation. This allows them to finally legislate for abortion, on the basis of 1992 X Case, and have it all blamed on the ECHR.
ReplyDelete