Challenge to Abortion Ban in Ireland

Reuters.co.uk

Three Irish women are taking Ireland to the European Court of Human Rights for preventing them having abortions in the country.

The case is part of a campaign by the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) to make abortion legal in Ireland. Abortion is illegal here in mainly Catholic Ireland - except in cases where the mother's life could be in danger without it.

However, women are permitted to travel outside Ireland for abortions. IFPA says 6,000 women travel to Britain every year to terminate their pregnancies.

"Since the first constitutional referendum on abortion in 1983, Ireland has changed: more women living in Ireland access abortion services and more women feel angry and frustrated that they have to travel to Britain and other countries to secure these services," said IFPA chairwoman Catherine Forde.

The three unnamed women who lodged a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights this week argue the ban violates articles in the European Convention of Human Rights.

These include the right to privacy in all family, home and personal interests and the right not to have public authorities interfering with this entitlement.

They also say the ban flouts an article in the convention which protects individuals from inhuman and degrading treatment.