Europe’s rights court rules against Ireland in abortion case

The European Court of Human Rights today ruled that Ireland has failed in implementing the country’s constitutional right to abortion that is given to a woman if her life is at risk.

The Strasbourg ruling confirmed that the rights of one of three women who challenged Ireland’s abortion laws in 2005 were breached. The woman – who was only identified as C – had her right to respect for her private life violated “given the failure to implement the existing constitutional right to a lawful abortion in Ireland,” the court said in a press release. The woman fell pregnant while in remission for a rare form of cancer and feared it would return as a result of her pregnancy. The court awarded her 15,000 euros in damages.

Abortion is prohibited in Ireland under criminal law and can result in life imprisonment for the mother “or a third party, who undertakes any unlawful action with the intent to provoke a woman’s miscarriage,” the court said. However, in 1992 Ireland, a country of 4.6 million, introduced lawful abortions “if there was a real and substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother as a result of her pregnancy.” Bans on travelling abroad to undergo an abortion were lifted in the same year.

The Grand Chamber of 17 judges ruled today that “neither the medical consultation nor litigation options, relied on by the Irish Government, constituted effective and accessible procedures which allowed the third applicant to establish her right to a lawful abortion in Ireland,” adding that “there was no explanation why the existing constitutional right had not been implemented to date.”

Abortion is available on request in 30 European countries, the release said. The number reaches 40 states for health-related reasons and 35 for well-being. Only three countries in Europe – Andorra, Malta and San Marino – have more restrictive rules than Ireland, where abortion is barred regardless of the risks that a pregnancy can impose on women, it said.

The European Court of Human Rights was established in 1959 by the Council of Europe member states and deals with the violations of 1950 Convention on Human Rights.

Ali Sheikholeslami, euronews correspondent in London

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