Judges Slam Irish Govt Over Abortion Ban

Adam Arnold, Sky News Online

A woman's human rights were violated after she had to leave Ireland and go abroad to terminate a pregnancy due to its abortion ban, European judges have ruled.

The Lithuanian woman, known only as C, was in remission from cancer when she went to England to have the procedure.

Abortions are banned in Ireland except when there is a danger to the woman

She claimed her life had been put at risk by being forced to travel overseas for the termination.

She was worried her pregnancy would cause a relapse of cancer and was concerned about a risk to the foetus if she carried to full term.

And she claimed she could not obtain clear advice in Ireland.

The European Court of Human Rights criticised the Dublin government for leaving its courts with a lack of good information regarding lawful abortions in the country.

Under Irish law, abortion is only allowed if there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the expectant mother.

The judges said there had been no explanation why this existing constitutional right to abortion had not been implemented.

They ruled Ireland breached the woman's right to respect for her private life because of this failure.

They also ruled that the only non-judicial means for determining the risk she was facing was a doctor's opinion, which they said was ineffective.

A pro-life campaigner demonstrates against abortion

The judges said the doctor faced a "chilling" threat of life in jail if he or she ordered an abortion and was later found to be wrong.

The Lithuanian was one of three women, known only as A, B and C, fighting a landmark legal battle to have the Republic's abortion laws overturned.

The trio, including two from Ireland, claimed restrictions on abortion stigmatised and humiliated them, and risked damaging their health.

But the other two had their case dismissed by the court.

All three women said they suffered medical complications after their abortions in the UK in 2005.

The trio said it was unnecessarily expensive, complicated and traumatic - and the Strasbourg court found going overseas put psychological burdens on them.

But it added the necessary medical advice and treatment for before and after abortion was available in Ireland.

The judges unanimously ruled the first two women's rights were not violated by being forced to travel.

This was because Irish law was legitimately trying to protect public morals, they found.